Time, Make It Go Faster Or Just Rewind
by kmd0107
Summary: Logan being 'the real-Logan' is so familiar that she almost can't help but give in to it, even if it's just a one night pass. She'll embrace this moment out of time and the walls and armor can go back up tomorrow.
1. Skinny Dipping For Lilly

**Chapter 1 - Skinny Dipping for Lilly**

* * *

><p>"You look beautiful honey." Keith wrapped his arm across her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.<p>

Veronica had decided to take the fashion advice of the ghost of Lilly and wear the red satin dress for homecoming. It was a little more daring than she was actually feeling and not exactly how she wanted to present herself to Troy, but when she had seen the dress she could almost feel Lilly's presence. If only she had remember that Lilly wasn't to be trusted…

"Thanks Dad." She smiled as a knock came at the door. Wanting to limit Troy and Keith's time together she rushed to the door. "Good, you're on time, night Dad! Don't wait up…" Pushing Troy right back out before Keith could get in a word.

* * *

><p>Wallace and Georgia were already in the limo talking excitedly as Veronica slid across the seat. She was sitting on the bench along the back of the limo just like she had in another limo a lifetime ago. The memories were bittersweet. So much happiness and all the unbearable pain that followed. She let her eyes drift to the window as they drove and saw the deserted beach.<p>

_I've never… gone skinny dipping._

"Do you mind if we make a stop? There's something I need to do."

A skittish look crossed Troy's face at her words, "Well, I don't think that's a good idea, we should probably go right to the dance, right? I told your dad…"

Veronica directed the driver as to where she wanted to stop.

A few minutes later the limo pulled into the parking lot and Veronica opened the door and started to undo the straps on her heels. "You have to stay here." She told Troy.

As she walked away from the limo Wallace's words made her smile, "Don't ask me, man. Stopped trying to figure her out day one."

* * *

><p>The bottle of champagne was starting to get a little warm but he didn't care. There were several more bottles in a cooler in the back of his truck. <em>Fuck, should have just lugged the fucking cooler down here in the first place… <em> He got up from the blanket he'd tossed on the sand and headed to retrieve the cooler.

As he approached his truck he saw a limo pull into the parking lot and watched as a small figure emerged from the back. She was carrying her heels and walking toward the water. It was too dark for him to get much of an impression beyond small and in a dress. But his curiosity was piqued. The interior lights of the truck were set to off, so he was pretty sure his presence had gone unnoticed. He grabbed the cooler and started making his way back to the place he'd staked out just up from the high tide mark.

Settled back on his blanket he could now make out more of the little intruder and he was sure he recognized her. Surprising even him, not an easy thing to do, she stripped and moved towards the ocean. She hadn't looked his way so he figured she thought she was alone.

"Here's to you Lilly!" She yelled as she entered the water.

_Holy shit! That is Veronica Mars… That is Veronica Mars naked not 25 yards away from me…_

His breath hitched at the memory _'Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I've never… gone skinny dipping'_. His heart began pounding in his chest and his mouth went dry. He watched her for a few moments and then pulled off his shirt, dropped his pants and boxers and was moving towards the water.

* * *

><p>"Can you see her out there?" Troy asked an amused Wallace, as he squinted out the window trying to see anything in the darkness.<p>

"Naw, man. But it's V, if she'd wanted you to join her she would have said so. Just cool your jets." Wallace shook his head and smiled at Georgia, who seemed totally unconcerned with Veronica's strange behavior.

Troy continued trying to see what Veronica was doing when he was sure he saw another figure further down the beach moving toward her. But it was so dark he couldn't be sure. He'd give her five more minutes and then he was going down there.

* * *

><p>The water was cool but not unbearable. She decided she didn't care about ruining her hair and completely submerged herself in the calm water. She stayed below for a few seconds enjoying the rush of the water washing over her and imagining Lilly's reaction.<p>

_Veronica Mars, skinny dipping is supposed to be a team sport… but points for effort!_

"I've never been skinny dipping with Veronica _fucking_ Mars!"

Veronica let out a little scream as Logan lifted a bottle of champagne to his lips laughing.

"Dammit Logan! What the hell are you doing here?!"

He held out the bottle to her. "Drink?" He chuckled as she accepted the bottle and took a long sip. "I was just minding my own business, getting drunk here on the beach. And I see a little blonde strip and head for the water." He tilted his head and bought his index finger to the corner of his mouth, "And I think to myself, the ocean can be a dangerous place so late at night, I'd best offer her my services." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"God Logan!" She punched him in the shoulder as he moved closer to her and took another sip of the champagne. "Seriously, why are you here?"

His eyes softened and didn't break contact with hers. "I couldn't stand the thought of going to the dance without her… you know, but I also couldn't stand being at home. _Aaron_ is home and wanted to 'bond'. Fuck that! So here I am, naked in the ocean with you." His eyes darkened and moved down her body as if the water wasn't up to her shoulders earning him a smirk.

"Echolls, are you checking me out?" She asked him saucily.

"I've been checking you out since I was 12 years old." He winked at her, taking back the bottle.

_What the hell am I doing? Am I flirting with obligatory, psychotic, jackass Logan Echolls?_

Except he wasn't being a jackass, he was being the old him. He took another pull from the champagne before offering it back to her.

* * *

><p>"Ok, she's been gone a long time. I'm going in." Troy opened the door and started making his way to the water. He came across the pile of her clothes and bent to pick them up. <em>Well, well, well… maybe I was supposed to follow her down here after all.<em>

As he got closer to the water he heard her voice, "…you checking me out?" Troy smiled to himself thinking this was further confirmation of his last thought when a familiar voice responded to her questions, "…Since I was 12 years old."

_Shit! Is that Echolls? What is she doing with him? _He looked down at the bundle in his arms. _What the hell is she doing naked with Logan Echolls?!_ His mood had shifted from excited to well and truly pissed.

"What the hell Veronica?!" He shouted at the two shadowed figures as he moved closer to the water's edge.

"Troy? I told you to wait in the limo." Veronica replied shortly, while Logan snickered loudly.

"Wow, Troy, you must not be much of a date to have missed this invite… oww!" The hard pinch to his arm stopped his snark.

"Shut up! Troy, Logan here, saw me and wanted to make sure I was okay, which I am. If you could set my stuff back up where it was, I'll be back to the limo in just a minute."

Troy fumed. _Who the fuck did she think she was?! _

"Yeah, I don't think so… this is fucked up! I'm leaving, but I bet Echolls here can help you find your way home."

With that Troy stalked back up toward the limo. _What the hell am I going to do with her clothes? Can't let Wallace see, he'll never let me get away with it. But no way in hell am I letting her get away with that!_ He thought furiously and pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey man, my date ditched me, can you pick me up at the entrance to the beach by the park?… Great, see you in a few."

Troy continued around to the other side of the limo, away from the water, and opened the door, being sure to keep the bundle of Veronica's clothes out of sight. "Hey, Veronica wants to just sit out here for a while, I called a cab, we'll catch up with you at the dance."

"Are you sure man? We don't mind waiting, right Georgia?" At Georgia's disappointed expression Troy knew he had won.

"Really, Wallace, it's fine, get the lovely Georgia here to that dance. We'll see you soon."

"Okay, I guess. Just remember, Mr. Mars'll have your ass if you hurt her, and so will I." Wallace gave him an only somewhat joking look. And Troy nodded seriously, shutting the door.

_Like I care what you or 'Mr. Mars' will do, I'm outta here in a few days anyway… fuck them._

* * *

><p>"Well, that was interesting." Logan chuckled to himself as Troy stomped away back to the limo. He turned to look at Veronica. "What the hell do you see in that asshole, anyway?" He reached out for the bottle.<p>

"Less than I did before tonight. Um… Logan, I'm pretty sure he didn't leave my clothes on the beach like I asked. And those lights are the limo leaving." She turned to meet his eyes, nervously chewing on her full lower lip.

"I'll bet he didn't. Don't worry about it, I gotcha." His smirk deepened and his eyes glittered wildly in the moon light. His voice softened at her less than pleased expression, "Seriously, don't worry, he didn't grab my clothes. You can just wear some of my stuff and I'll take you home."

"Ugh… Okay, you know Lilly is loving this, right?" He nodded his agreement. "Oh, god, you're going to tell everyone about this aren't you?" She sighed heavily and pouted toward where the limo had departed.

_Oh my god that was adorable, I'd forgotten all the little sounds she makes. I wonder what other sounds I could get her to make… _His eyes unfocused and a barrage of images of him and Veronica flew through his mind._ Where the hell did that come from? Good thing this water is so cold or this could get embarrassing really fast._

He coughed, his voice a little rougher, "I think I can give you a pass this one time, in honor of Lilly and all…" he trailed off with an elaborate hand gesture from his free hand as he offered her the bottle back. "So here's the thing, right now we are both very much naked." He reached out and touched her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze, that sent a shiver down his back and caused her to tremble at the contact. _It's the cold, it has to be._

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten." Her eyes moved from his face to his bare upper chest, where they lingered long enough to send another shiver down his spine. _Shit!_

He cleared his throat, "Right, um… yeah. I have towels in the truck. I'll go get them and meet you in shallower water?" He looked at her, she was short but much shallower water and she would be flashing him the goods, _not that I have a problem with that…_ He couldn't help the smile that lit up his face.

"I don't think so. You go get the towels and leave me one while you go back to your truck and put on clothes. Got it?" He nodded, his smile not fading in the least.

* * *

><p><em>Well, this is going better than it could have, but not quite what I had in mind when I got this harebrained idea. Thanks a lot Lilly. <em>

Veronica took another sip from the almost empty champagne bottle while she watched Logan move out of the water. The moon offered enough light that she could see the water glistening on his bare, toned back. _I must be tipsy, I'm checking out Logan Echolls' back_. And suddenly, it wasn't just his back she was admiring. As his ass appeared fully from the water a gasp escaped Veronica as a feeling of warmth spread through her.

"I heard that, who's checking out who now?" He laughed in a deep, sexy, voice.

_Shit, I am never living that down_. _What is wrong with me? It's gotta be the champagne._

"You are so full of yourself, the water is just getting really cold, so hurry it up!" She tried to recover but he only laughed louder.

"What ever you say, Mars!" He was now out of the water and took a couple of hip-swaying steps before moving quickly toward his hideous Xterra.

She could only see his shadow and then nothing as he faded into the darkness of the parking lot. A minute later she heard the slam of the hatchback and then finally she could see Logan's shadow appear back on the beach.

"All right Mars, your towel awaits you and I am heading back to the truck, as requested, and I will only sneak one peek." He was still laughing softly to himself as he deposited the towel at the waters edge and turned to head back up the sand.

Veronica immediately started making her way to the towel. True to his word, Logan was still heading up to the parking lot and so far he hadn't 'sneaked-a-peek,' much to her relief. Once she reached the towel she quickly wrapped herself in it and began drying off as best she could while walking toward the parking lot. She passed a large blanket and a cooler as she made her way to the Xterra.

As she approached the back of the truck she could see Logan, wearing only his cargo pants, with his back bare to her. She noticed a few dark marks that she hadn't been able to see earlier when he got out of the water, they could have been shadows but she didn't think so. Before she had time to think more about the marks he pulled on a tight t-shirt. He turned around and smiled at her then reached into the back of the truck. His hands reappeared wiggling what looked like a pair of boxers and one of this button down shirts.

"Sorry I don't have more to offer you but I wasn't expecting to have to share my clothes with a tiny blonde this evening." He gave her another smirk. The smirk faded a bit, "I'm also sorry that you needed me to offer these, I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been in the water with you boy-toy Troy wouldn't have taken off with your clothes." He stared at he feet as he toed the tire of the Xterra. He looked back up and a little smile appeared, "What were you wearing tonight? All I could tell was that it was red. Old Veronica never wore red…" He met her eyes.

"It was red satin and definitely Lilly approved." She took her turn to waggle her eyebrows. "And don't be sorry, this wasn't your fault. I'm kind of relieved honestly. I knew it was just a matter of time before Troy showed his true colors, though I'd hoped for a somewhat less dramatic reveal." She sighed reaching out for the boxers and shirt. She looked around a bit, "Um… I'm just going to a…" She looked around more as a red blush crept up her neck to her cheeks.

* * *

><p>Logan could see her discomfort. She wanted to put on the clothes he had offered her but there wasn't much privacy. He rubbed the back of his neck trying to think of a solution and looked back at her. Her gaze had turned from nervous to dark as she stared at his chest. He looked down and realized she was watching his muscles move under the tight shirt. <em>Fuck, she really is checking me out. God, she is wearing nothing under that towel.<em> At the sight of her licking her lips he felt his dick twitch and start to swell completely out of his control. _Shit, she is going to kill me, baseball, grandmas, must get her in some clothes… Yeah, clothes._ He shook his head and started to act as fast as he could. He reached out and opened the drivers side front and rear doors.

"There! Makeshift dressing-room. I'll be down at the blanket, you saw it on your way up, right?" She gave him a small smile and nodded, stepping between the two open doors.

He quickly moved down the beach hoping she hadn't noticed that he was as hard as a rock. He took a few deep breaths and willed his damned erection away. This was not the time. Since the dedication of Lilly's memorial fountain (that she would have hated) he had thought of Veronica a lot. A year of hate and torment from him and she still had been willing to share that tape. One of the last happy times they had all spent together as the fab four. And now tonight, they had laughed and teased, maybe she had even flirted with him a little and he had liked it, wanted more even. And now this… he sighed down at his lap. He had always found her attractive but this was ridiculous. Being sixteen was impossible.

His revery was broken by the sound of the doors to his truck shutting. _Thank god… she'll be covered up now and maybe we can continue this truce a little longer_.

She threw herself down on the blanket next to him and laid herself out, staring up at the sky. "It's really beautiful out here." She mused and turned to look at him.

Logan was sitting up about half way down the length of the blanket. He turned his head to meet Veronica's eyes, "Yeah, beautiful." _I did not mean to say that_. "I mean…" he cleared his throat, "It _is_ beautiful here, the sky and the water. Yeah…" He finished awkwardly. _This is going well_.

She chuckled softly. "What else you got in that cooler?" She laughed at her joke.

"We are staunch and true and in rather a champagne mood." He quoted at her as he reached into the cooler extracting another bottle of champagne and popping the cork. He took a long swig before offering it to her.

"Quoting Nazi era German artists, you're a strange one. Got any food in there? All this excitement kind of drained me."

"I'm the strange one? You recognized it. And no, no food. Besides not planning on sharing clothes with a tiny blonde I also didn't make arrangements for your metabolism." He patted his cargo pockets finally extracting his cell phone. "Shall I call for reinforcements? I don't think I can legally drive and I'm pretty sure you can't either."

"What did you have in mind? I think I could eat a horse." She told him.

"How about Cho's, something easy to eat at our current location?" He had already started searching for the number. "Hey, can I get a pepperoni on sweet n' spicy pizza and like," he looked at Veronica, "four, no better make that five cheesecake egg rolls… Yeah, we're at the beach by the park, the yellow Xterra… I don't know the address… Look just tell the delivery guy to call when he hits the parking lot… Okay, great, thanks." He ended the call.

"God, you are such an 09er." She glared at him but he could tell she didn't mean it.

"Whatever, you'll only be mad until I feed you, I can deal." He couldn't help laughing at her.

Twenty minutes later Logan's phone buzzed and the delivery guy met them with their bounty.

* * *

><p>"Mmmm… this is so good. I love their cheesecake egg rolls, they're like crispy little bites of heaven." Veronica moaned. As she finished devouring her third roll.<p>

"Well, at least you let me have two of them. Last time we had these together I believe I only got to have a bite of one before you stole it." Logan teased her.

"That was your own fault, clearly, you didn't order enough of them. You did better this time." She volleyed back, while stretching out on the blanket. She then rolled to her side to look up at him, "Thank you, that was really good and I think I'm actually having a good time." She mused, _I must still be a little tipsy_.

"Of course you're having a good time, you're with me, I am nothing if not a good time."

"Well, Mr. 'Good-time', I'm not so sure you were a good time when you were smashing my head lights…" her voice trailed off realizing she had stumbled into dangerous territory.

"Hey Veronica, don't do that, we _are_ having fun here. Let's just take this for what it is, a moment out of time and not talk about any of that shit. More champagne?" He asked over his shoulder, reaching back into the cooler.

Veronica took a deep breath and decided he was right, why dredge all that up now. There would be plenty of time to battle with him after tonight.

"I'd better not, at some point I do have to go home and my Dad will kill me if I show up drunk as well as not in the clothes I left in. What time is it anyway?" She asked. _What am I going to do about the clothes issue? Dad will pop a gasket if I show up dressed like this…_

Pulling out his phone, "A little after 11:00. What time do you have to be home? We could stop by my place and you could borrow some of Trina's stuff, I dunno maybe he wouldn't be as upset if you're in girls clothes. I really don't want to be shot by the sheriff." He grimaced.

"Would you prefer a deputy?" She giggled at her little quip, _Definitely no more champagne for you,_ she thought to herself. "I told him not to wait up, but he's probably expecting me by 12:30. I could text him and say I'll be a little later but… my phone is in my purse… which is in the limo." She jumped up and started pacing in front of the blanket agitatedly.

"Chill Mars, why don't I call it and see if anyone answers." He unlocked his phone and hit a speed dial.

_Did he just use a speed dial to call my phone? He still has my number?_ She stared at him incredulously as he lifted the phone to his ear and made eye contact with her. Her expression elicited a sheepish grin and a shrug from Logan.

_"Hello… Veronica?!" _Wallace practically yelled when the call was picked up.

"Actually…"

"Logan give me the phone!" Veronica sprang to grab the phone out of Logan's hand before he could say more. "Yes, Wallace it's me."

_"Where the hell are you guys? Did you just say Logan? That didn't sound like Troy and you never showed up at the dance…" _Wallace said clearly upset.

"I know, I'm not with Troy…"

_"Then who the hell was that?"_ He interrupted.

"Don't worry about that right now. I'm fine and safe." She smirked at Logan who gave her a little bow. "But I need to know, has my Dad called?"

_"Yeah, he called and left you a message… I didn't answer, I was afraid to tell him you were off somewhere with Troy." _

"Okay, Wallace, it's fine. Look I'm going to call my phone back and check the voicemail so don't answer and then I'll call you back, got it?" He gave her an affirmative response before hanging up. She quickly dialed back and put in the password for her voice mail.

_"Hey honey, I hope you're having fun. I just got a call about a bail jumper in New Mexico. I'm headed to the airport right now. I should be back Sunday and I'll check in with you tomorrow. Be good." _ The message ended as the call waiting beeped on Logan's phone. She took a quick glance 'Asshole' was displayed.

"Asshole is calling." Veronica laughed handing the phone to Logan whose smile faded.

"It's my dad, um… hold on." He brought the phone to his ear with one hand and the other rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Dad?"

The voice on the other end of the line was so loud Veronica had no trouble hearing everything he said.

_"Where the fuck are you?! I get home and all the champagne I put in the pool house is GONE! Do we need to have another conversation about your behavior, Logan? DO WE?!"_

Logan licked his lips and his eyes flicked briefly to Veronica's. "I'm… um… well, there are still two bottles left. I'll be home soon…" He said dejectedly.

_"You'd better be!"_ He had hung up before Logan could say anymore.

"I'd better get you home… my dad is pretty pissed." He said sadly, looking defeated and worried.

_What the hell is going on? I remember Logan's dad being pretty intense…_ _something is definitely off with Logan's reaction_.

"Maybe I should go with you, to your house. Wallace can just pick me up after the dance. Your house is closer and I don't think you should drive." She trailed off.

"Oh, sure, I guess that makes sense. How drunk are you? I mean I feel okay but I drank most of that last bottle… I don't want to make it worse, you know…" He gave her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes as he set the unopended bottle of champagne back in the cooler.

"I'm fine, I can drive. Just give me your keys and we'll get going. Give me your phone, too, I still need to call Wallace back." He reached in his pocket and handed her the keys as well as his phone.

She quickly redialed her number. "Wallace… yeah everything's fine… Can you pick me up at the address I'm going to text you? No, it's not a rush, just whenever you're heading home." She looked hesitantly at Logan, who seemed surprised at her words. "Dad's off chasing a bail jumper so my curfew is gone… Probably not until 1:00? That's fine… Really, have fun with Georgia and just text this number when you're on the way… Thanks buddy!" She ended the call.

"Veronica, I'm not sure about this. You want to be subjected to me for at least two more hours? Maybe I should just take you home?"

"Don't be silly! Truce, remember? Onward to the Yellow Beast, let's go Echolls! I don't have all night." She rallied, racing for the car, more to hide her concern than to display excitement. She could hear Logan gathering the blanket and cooler behind her. _I don't know what's going on with Logan and his dad but I'm sure as hell going to find out_.


	2. You Forgave And I Won't Forget

A/N: Huge thanks go to Bondopoulos for her amazing Beta of this chapter! It is so much better because of you :) Any mistakes are definitely my own.

Thank you to everyone who left a review or started following the story! Every time I received an alert it felt like it was my birthday! Bondopoulos, ELSchaaf, Iitska, Jeanie205, Lyn11109, MondayChardonnay, NASCARluver2013, bear001, cmackie, coolhan08, cupcakes and robots, docchandra, kerali, madeittothemoon, minipsychologist, naeiser, .smith, nikki, viki, jaybeans, and josielynn

A/N2: Fixed the formatting issue where the POV changes didn't show breaks.

**Chapter 2 - You Forgave And I Won't Forget**

Logan's mind was a jumble of thoughts as she drove them to the Echolls estate.

_I haven't had this much fun with anyone in a year… Why is she making excuses to spend more time with me? I know she heard Aaron, but he didn't say anything that should have caught her attention… Though maybe if she's with me he'll let this go, maybe… I'm seriously going to kick Troy's ass next time I see him… Or maybe I should thank him… He's going to tell everyone about this…_

"Shit."Logan's breath steamed up the window he was leaning against as they pulled up to the gate.

"Hey, what's the code? Or do you want to come put it in so I don't know it?" She winked at him when he turned to meet her eyes.

"Your code should still work." He said quietly. _Why didn't I have them delete her code? I guess I never had Lilly's deleted either…_

Veronica eyes widened and a crease appeared between her eyes. Logan shrugged and she punched in the code he had given her four years ago so she could come visit him after soccer practice without having to be let in, 5683. The gate buzzed and popped open.

It was just after 11:30 when they parked the Xterra and headed for the main entrance. He abruptly turned to face Veronica, hands deep in his pockets. "Ronnie, maybe you shouldn't come in with me…I'm…" He took a deep breath and reached up to rub the back of his neck, "He…he isn't going to be happy. I don't want you to…" He looked away.

_Shit, what can I say to get her out of here; this is going to be so bad. _He looked down and shuffled his feet, kicking at a loose bit of gravel.

"Logan, do you really think he'll be anything but nice in front of me?" Her mouth was pulled in a tight line and her eyes were practically sparking.

_Girl has balls of steel!_

"Let me be a buffer." She continued. "He might be mad but he won't want me to see that. Come on it'll be fine." She tilted her head and gave him a thoughtful look, "And leave the cooler in the truck."

He stared at her appreciatively for a few moments, gave her a smile and nodded his head, accepting her plan.

Logan approached the door and held it open for her with a courtly gesture. "Madame…" He said with an exaggerated accent, feeling somewhat buoyed by her plan.

They had barely made it into the foyer when a sinister voice broke the silence, "Logan, what the FUCK do you…Oh, oh my, Veronica, is that you? Please, excuse my language, I didn't realize Logan had company." He took in her unusual appearance, letting his eyes linger on her legs.

Logan's eyes followed his father's gaze. He quickly slipped his arm around Veronica's waist and tucked her into the side of his body. He knew he'd made the right move when he felt her press herself further into him. _You don't like how he's looking at you either, do you?_ He thought.

"Um…Logan saved me from a bad situation tonight, Mr. Echolls. My date pulled a mean prank, if it weren't for Logan I don't know what would have happened." She quickly told him.

"Aaron, Veronica, call me Aaron. Is that so, Logan?" Logan nodded to his dad, without making eye contact. "Well, I'm happy you were able to help a friend. But that still doesn't excuse your…_behavior. _And did you drive after drinking three bottles of champagne? I don't think the Sheriff would appreciate that." He glared at Logan with sharp, black eyes followed by a smarmy leer when he turned to Veronica.

"Oh, Mr. Echolls, I mean Aaron, I drove. And Dad's not the sheriff anymore…"

_Wow, that smile deserves Aaron's Oscar more than he does. She sounds so confident, but I can feel the tremble running through her. She's protecting me, but why would she do that? I've been so horrible to her._

"No, I supposed he's…not. Regardless, I owe you a debt, Veronica." His eyes kept traveling over her body. "Logan, this discussion isn't over but I suppose it can wait until the lovely Veronica returns home…which will be?" He inquired.

"See, that's the thing. I was hoping I could stay the night…in a guest room of course. My Dad's out of town and I really don't feel comfortable home alone after what my date did. But only if that's okay with you and Mrs. Echolls, of course."

_What the hell is she doing?! _

"Well, Lynn is up in LA for the weekend, but I think that'll be just fine. Logan, you can get her set up?" He steepled his fingers, pressing them to his mouth, while his gaze lingered on her legs again. Logan squeezed her more tightly to him as Aaron finally turned to him, "We'll save our discussion about your _behavior _for tomorrow." Logan nodded grimly and quickly led Veronica out of the entry way and toward the back of the house. He shifted her slightly in front of him to block her from Aaron's view.

Once they had made their way to the french doors that lead out to the pool, Logan released the breath he had been holding in his rush to get Veronica away from Aaron.

"What wa…" Veronica started to speak.

"Not yet." Logan whispered into her ear as he released his hold around her waist and opened the door. He nodded out the door and she quickly made her way out to the pool. "Let's go to the pool house, um… I think Trina has an extra bikini in there." _Or maybe I should just give her my t-shirt__.__ I can't decide what would be hotter: her in a bikini or her swimming in my clothes…_ Logan shook his head to dislodge the very poorly timed fantasies running through his head. _Now is not the time, dammit. I need to get my game face on or Nancy Drew here is going to get us both in all sorts of trouble. Hell, she's the only person not totally taken with him…_

After rushing Veronica into the pool house, Logan shut the door and started rummaging through drawers. He lifted a small red bikini from the drawer with a bit of a smirk. _Pretty sure she's going to opt for my shirt instead…_

"Here you go. Get changed and I'll meet you in the pool." He said, pointing to the bathroom. He was desperate to delay her inevitable questions to give himself a little more time to prepare believable answers. He headed to another set of drawers and pulled out a pair of board shorts.

"I don't think so mister! There is not nearly enough fabric here." She swung the bikini back and forth.

Without a pause he pulled his shirt off and tossed it to her, "Better?" He could see her staring at his chest again, and he couldn't help but chuckle when her mouth went a little slack. "Chop, chop, Mars, change and to the pool!"

Her mouth snapped shut and she marched to the bathroom.

As she shut the bathroom door, Veronica took a moment to look at Logan's bare back, which was now turned to her. Even in the dim light of the pool house she could see rows of scabs across his broad upper back.

_What the hell is going on? And how many times have I thought that tonight?_ She turned on the faucet and splashed cool water on her face while she debated her next move. There was no way something wasn't going on between Logan and his father.

Aaron had always been nice to her during the years of the fab four, but her encounters with him had been few and far between and usually included Lynn. The man who had glared at Logan tonight was anything but that all smiles, movie-star dad. And almost worse was the way he had looked at her. Even tucked in against Logan she had been disturbed by it. _And since when does Logan make me feel safe?_ _Well, safe again…_

She thought back to years of sleepovers and pool parties. To Logan sneaking over to pick her up when her parents were fighting all the time. Sitting on the beach crying on his shoulder about her mom's drinking…before Lilly was murdered, before her mother left, before she lost everyone but her dad. _Seriously, Veronica, one night does not make up for the last year of cruelty and psychotic jackass behavior_. As she thought Aaron's cold words and cruel face appeared in her mind.

_"Do we need to have another conversation about your behavior, Logan?"_ His voice had been hard and menacing, his eyes dark and flat. _"We'll save our discussion about your behavior for tomorrow."_ A shiver cold as ice ran up her spine at the memory.

A sharp knock on the door broke the memory. "You fall in? Come on, we're burning moonlight." She could hear Logan laughing to himself. She quickly finished changing and pulled his t-shirt on over the fabric-challenged bikini.

Veronica made her way across the large patio area to the pool and opted to use the wide stairs rather than jumping in as she used to. She was about waist deep in the water when a face shot up in front of her, eliciting a small gasp.

"Well, that was creepy." She sighed with a hint of annoyance.

"Oh? I was going for scary, or maybe startling." He gave her give big goofy grin. He had replaced the t-shirt she was now wearing with a fresh one and was wearing a pair of board shorts.

"Not that,"she waved her hand at him, "your dad." She said much more softly.

"What? Not taken by Aaron Echolls' smarmy charms and aging action-star physique?"

"Not so much." His smile got even bigger.

"You're the first…" He trailed off and then gave her a very intense look, "I remember you not being impressed by his acting skills but I don't remember you being this 'put off'by him in the past?" He phrased it as a question, and it was clearly an important one based on the look he was giving her.

"Well…he never paid me _that_ kind of attention before." She shook again and he reached out and stroked her upper arm and squeezed her shoulder, causing warmth to spread from where he touched her through her body until he let go. "He wasn't around very much before…" She let her words drop and he looked down and away awkwardly.

"Yeah." He replied softly.

"Logan…" But before she was able to say any more he picked her up and tossed her into deeper water, swimming quickly in the other direction. _Yep, just like old times._ She thought as she quickly plugged her nose.

They splashed and swam around the pool, releasing some of their nervous tension. After a few minutes Veronica held up her hands in surrender, "White flag!" She declared, waving an imaginary flag above her head.

Logan nodded and waited for her to approach him. "Look Ronnie, I'm not so sure…"

"I think it's time…to rescue the cooler."She interrupted him, earning a look of disbelief from Logan. "What did you think I was going to say?" She teased before turning to head for the edge of the pool.

Rather than go to the stairs she had used before, she lifted herself out of the pool at the closest edge, causing her t-shirt to hike up and reveal her barely covered bottom. Logan moaned before he could get control of himself.

"Did you say something?" She asked, looking back at him with a guileless expression.

_Did she do that on purpose or does she really have no idea how hot she is? I've really got to rein this in or I am going to completely embarrass myself._

They made their way to the Xterra and Logan retrieved the cooler. They stayed silent as they returned to the pool, both clearly deep in thought. Logan looked over at Veronica as they approached the pool and he decided that if there was a god he was trying to kill him. Rather than stop at the pool, Logan continued on toward the hot tub.

Veronica quirked an eyebrow at him, "Hot tub, huh? Tired of the pool already?"

He winked at her, "I thought you might be cold." His gaze settled on her chest for a few moments then he waggled his eyebrows at her. She looked down at her chest and her face turned bright red as it clearly registered that she was nipping out very visibly. She raised her arms to cover herself and turned away a bit. "Veronica, it's not a big deal. Hell, you saw my bare ass earlier. Come get in the hot tub and have some more champagne." He laughed a bit as she climbed into the hot tub, making a point of facing away from him as she quickly sunk down into the seat so that only her head and neck were above the water.

After she was settled, Logan passed her the newly opened bottle of champagne and gave her a very serious look, "Are you sure you really want to stay? I know your dad is gone but you could still go home with Wallace."

"You don't want me to stay?" She asked hesitantly, looking embarrassed again. "I'm sorry I just reacted when I saw how he was looking at you… Logan?"

He shook his head at her, "Not yet, more champagne first. And yes I want you to stay but… I dunno this is so weird, this whole past year, I just… What are you doing here with me, Ronnie? You hate me!" He grabbed the open bottle and took a big swig, not wanting to look at her.

"I don't hate you Logan. I can't say I like you very much these days, but we used to be friends. More than friends… family." She said sadly. "Anyway you're the one who hates me, who has tormented and ridiculed me for the last year." The words came out without any heat, just sadness.

Before Logan could reply his phone buzzed. He reached out and answered it without looking. "Yeah?"

_"Who is this? Where's Veronica?" _Wallace spoke angrily into the phone.

"Hold on she's right… oomph… here." Veronica snatched the phone away, elbowing Logan in the chest.

"Hey-ya Papa Bear, you on the way?" Logan mouthed 'papa bear' at her, the question clear on his face. She shook her head and turned away from him, pausing to listen to Wallace.

"Really, I'm fine, I promise. I'll meet you at the gate in about 10 minutes?"She told him and then ended the call, handing the phone back to Logan.

"Okay, I'm going to pop down to the gate, get my purse from Wallace, and then we can continue this little night-O-fun."She smiled grimly at him and reached for the bottle he was still holding.

"_We_ are going to 'pop'down to the gate. And I don't hate you." He told her, climbing out of the hot tub and heading over to a set of cupboards before she could reply. After digging around a bit he pulled out two towels and headed back to her. "I thought you might prefer…" He indicated the towel while waving his hand toward her torso.

"Oh! Thank you." She gave him a small smile, set the open bottle back in the cooler and wrapped herself in the towel. "You should really stay here. I don't think Wallace is going to take kindly to the idea of my staying here with you."

_Then maybe you shouldn't stay, did you think of that_? He thought but kept to himself because he found he really did want her to stay. _I am seriously fucked up…_

"Just tell him you're working a case for me or something. The case of the missing boxer-briefs."He declared as he lifted his shirt up enough to show that he wasn't wearing anything under his board shorts.

Veronica gasped, "Seriously Logan! Put yourself away!" She turned away, even more embarrassed than before.

Logan looked down and realized his shorts were clinging to his body in a much more revealing way than he had expected. _At least I was half-hard earlier so no shrinkage to worry about here._ He chuckled to himself and tried to give her a contrite look while covering back up. "Sorry, about that. Now _I'm_ the embarrassed one." _Not too embarrassed. _He turned away, heading towards the driveway.

Wallace pulled up just a few minutes after they reached the gate. Georgia was no longer with him, and he did not look pleased to see that Veronica had company. Wallace let loose when she approached his window rather than the passenger door.

"What the hell V? Why are you all wet? And who the hell…Oh My God, why are you with Echolls?!"Wallace practically yelled at her while Logan gave him one of his little finger waves and a smirk.

"Calm down and keep it _down_, there is no need to yell." Veronica took a deep breath, "Troy ditched me at the beach and stole my…dress." She put her hand up to stop Wallace from asking for more detail. "I'll explain everything at a later date."

_I'll just bet she will…_Logan thought.

"The only important part is that Logan was kind enough to help me out in my _time of need_. And it turns out there is something he needs my help with. So if you can just give me my bag you can head on home." She flashed her most winning smile.

"V, this guy bashed in your headlights." He said, clearly exasperated, but at a quieter volume, "And now you're going to help him? I thought that was only for friends and the occasional friend of a friend…"

"Or for large sums of money." She replied snappily. "Anyway, he and I, we used to be friends…It's not a big deal."

"Okay, but you need to call me in the morning. And if he does anything, you call me immediately."

Wallace's glare brought Logan up to the window, "Hey, man, I know Ronnie and I have had our um…'differences'."He made little quotation fingers, "But I promise I would never actually hurt her."

Wallace's gaze darkened, "Whatever man, like you all haven't _hurt_ her already." He practically growled.

"Okay! Okay boys play nice. Really Wallace; I'm totally fine." She glared at Wallace. "Logan is not going to hurt me, now what I might do to him…still up for debate."She smirked at Logan who offered her a genuine smile.

Looking completely confused, Wallace handed Veronica her purse, "Call if you need anything." He glared at Logan one more time.

"Bye Wally, drive safe!" Logan called in a falsetto as Wallace rolled up his window, earning him a hard smack on the side of his head. "Hey! Weren't you just telling us to play nice?" He rubbed the side of his head gingerly. "And what did he mean about me hurting you? I know I haven't been very _nice_ but he didn't sound like he meant that I hurt your feelings…"

"You deserved it and I have no idea what he was talking about." She had turned back to the gate and was walking away.

_Well, that was enlightening, and a complete lie…_ "I'm getting tired. Let's go find you something to sleep in and call it a night, okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too."She stifled a yawn as Logan placed his hand on her lower back to direct her toward the main entrance rather than back to the pool. "What about the rest of the champagne?" She asked when she realized what he was doing.

"Oh, yeah, can't just leave that out there can we?" He laughed and grabbed her hand, dragging her back in the direction of the pool.

* * *

><p>Wallace fumed as he drove away from the Echolls estate. <em>I don't get it. How can V stand to be around any of those assholes? <em>He knew Veronica could handle herself now but he couldn't help but be concerned. Not after she had described the kind of things that the 09ers were capable of.

FLASHBACK

"Another big Friday night. You got plans?" Wallace asked her.

"I don't know. I might take Backup for a run or rent a movie maybe. What about you, Wallace? Your life still a non-stop Nelly video?"

"I found this on the floor in gym." Wallace handed Veronica a pink flyer.

"You want to crash an 09er party?" She asked.

"Maybe. I don't know what an 09er is."

"It's someone who lives in the prestigious 90909 zip code. They throw big parties where the alcohol flows and drugs abound. You never know you might get lucky and end up with a spiked drink and not remember your night." She said doing her best Robin Leech "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" voice.

Wallace frowned, "You mean they roofie people?"

"It's been known to happen." She looked away. "On the milder end of the spectrum they punk people who pass out, use drunk girls as salt licks," at Wallace's confused expression she explained, "you know - body shots? Anyway, you don't want to go to one of these parties. _Trust me_."

END FLASHBACK

Veronica had never told him outright that she had been a victim of any of the things she described but he had gotten the distinct impression that she was speaking from experience. That combined with what he had heard through the Neptune High rumor mill gave him a very bad feeling about how she had gone from the bubble-gum, pink princess he'd heard her described as to who she was now.

* * *

><p>Champagne rescued, they found themselves in Logan's room each with their own bottle and feeling drowsy.<p>

Veronica rinsed off in the shower and changed into the soft flannel pajama pants and undershirt that Logan had left out for her. She smiled when she saw that he had left a new toothbrush sitting on the sink for her as well. After brushing her teeth, she headed back into his room to find that he'd opened and polished off half of a bottle of champagne. The one he held was now even with the bottle that he had left on ice for her.

"I figured you'd want the less full one…" He told her as he headed into the bathroom to rinse off and change, too.

"Don't mind if I do…" Veronica said to herself. She took a sip and started inspecting Logan's room. It had been almost exactly one year since she had last been there.

FLASHBACK

Lilly's funeral had been horrible, full of fake friends and flashing bulbs from the media circus. The only thing real had been Logan's hand in hers as they watched the casket being lowered into the ground. They'd stayed long after everyone else had left, holding each other and crying silent tears.

When it began to rain Lynn came, wrapped her arms around them both and led them to a car. Veronica had no memory of how they got from the cemetery to Logan's room but they had curled up on his bed holding each other until there were no more tears, just exhaustion. She could remember voices but it seemed more like a dream.

"Lynn, we should take her home…"She was sure her father had said.

"Keith, look at them, this is the first time I've seen Logan sleep since…well since..."

"I know. Veronica, too, but…"

"It's fine, when they wake up I'll bring her home; for now let them be. It's not going to get better for either of them any time soon."

She had slipped back into oblivion as their voices trailed off.

END FLASHBACK

Although it was nearly a year later, not much about the room had changed that she could tell. Logan had never had many personal items in his room beyond video game stuff and a few pictures of him with his mother and the fab four. Veronica was surprised that the same pictures were still on the built-in bookshelves, though now they were somewhat obscured behind books and other random items. Hidden behind a stack of old video games, she spotted the corner of a picture she would know anywhere. It was her slung over Logan's shoulder jumping into the pool at the Kane estate. They couldn't have been more than 13 - before either of them had started dating their respective Kane. They both had big smiles on their faces and her hand was coming up to plug her nose. She had the same picture tucked away in her bedside table.

"I've always loved that picture." Logan whispered softly against the shell of her ear causing Veronica to jump.

"Jesus, Logan!"

"Hey, keep it down." He said softly, a little further away this time. "I would say I didn't mean to startle you but I'd be lying."He smirked at her while taking the frame out of her hands. His chocolate brown eyes softened as he stared at the photograph.

"I can't believe you still have this."

"I don't have a lot of happy memories, Veronica. This is one of them. Why would I throw it away?" His tone was sad but there was a small smile on his face. "I meant it when I said I don't hate you, you know? You _should_ hate me. I hate me. I've been horrible, but I could never hate you." His eyes glazed over and he turned away.

Logan set the frame on his nightstand and crawled onto the bed, now wearing loose sweatpants and a t-shirt like the one he had given her. _He must have an endless supply of t-shirts…_ He reached for the half-empty bottle of champagne with one hand and patted the bed with his other. "Come on, let's finish our spoils and crash."

Veronica walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled on, taking a sip from her bottle after she was settled a safe distance from Logan.

"You know I don't bite right? Well…unless asked." She felt her face get warm and he smiled at her brightly, clearly enjoying her discomfort. "I'd feel bad if you fell off the edge of the bed in your sleep." He chuckled softly.

"Well, that won't be a problem since I'm not sleeping in this bed. Which guest room should I use?"

Logan stiffened and sat up straight. "About that…did you ever notice that I never had you or Lil'stay the night when Aaron was home?"

"I guess I never thought much about it. _Why?"_ She lengthened out the word.

"I would feel a lot better if you stayed in here with me instead of alone in one of the guest rooms. I'll sleep on the floor if you prefer, but this is an awfully big bed I'm sure we can work it out." He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, which were practically burning with intensity. "The way he looked at you earlier…I don't want you to end up alone with him." His smile was gone, replaced by a scowl and a crease between his burning eyes.

Veronica shuddered, remembering the cold, flat eyes that had swept over her body and Logan pulling her into his own to shield her. She shook her head to clear the memory. _I don't want to find myself alone with him either_. "Okay, I'll stay in here. But you don't have to sleep on the floor, just no funny business, got it?"

Logan let out the breath he'd been holding and nodded, "Thank you." He took the last swig of his champagne and rolled the empty bottle under his bed. Veronica handed him the remains of her own, which he finished off and disposed of in the same way. "I'll take care of them in the morning." He slipped further down in the bed under the covers, placing both of his hands behind his head, and looked at Veronica expectantly.

She was still perched near the edge of the bed but knew she couldn't sleep like that. She shifted and crawled under the covers, scooting more toward the middle of the bed. She moaned upon settling into the unbelievably soft yet fluffy pillows. "I'd forgotten about your awesome pillows." She sighed, sinking further into the comfortable bed.

Logan's soft laugh was barely audible, "I'm glad you still approve." And they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACKDREAM

Veronica was reading in one of the comfortable chaise loungers surrounding the Kane's swimming pool. Lilly was arguing with Celeste about whatever her latest outrageous act had been. Duncan wasn't home from tennis lessons yet. And Logan was bored silly.

He'd been swimming laps in the pool while waiting for Duncan to arrive home, but he was rapidly losing interest. Veronica had arrived just a few minutes after him but she, after briefly greeting him, settled down into one of the loungers and was engrossed in whatever she was reading. From where Logan was in the pool, it looked like it might have been Pride and Prejudice, but he couldn't be sure. She had also pulled a small digital camera out of her bag and set it on the side table.

The camera had been a jointgift from him and Duncan for her 13th birthday. But really Logan had picked it out…Duncan had wanted to get her some silly pink purse. Sure Veronica would have liked that fine, but she had told Logan how much she wanted that camera when they had walked past it while in an electronics store at the mall. She had gone on and on forever about all the stupid shit it could do. Logan couldn't have cared less about any of that, but he did care about how excited she would be to have it. He hadn't been disappointed by her reaction. When she opened it she had flung herself at him, "You remembered." She had whispered in his ear before releasing him and, much more reservedly, hugging Duncan in thanks as well.

Logan climbed out of the pool and headed for the chaise next to Veronica. "Hey Ronnie, whatcha reading?" He grabbed a towel lying out and dried his hands then reached for the camera.

"Pride and Prejudice; just like you should be. We have a book report due on it this week." She gave him a suspicious look, "Please tell me you've at least started it."

"It's been many years since I had such an exemplary vegetable." He quoted at her.

"That's from the movie and is not in the book." She snarked back.

"Fine, fine. 'I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.'" He quoted again, this time giving her intense eye contact. He was rewarded with her sharp intake of breath. "See? I read, Veronica Mars." He set the camera down pointing it toward the pool and checked the angle. Then he jumped up, grabbed the book away and tossed Veronica over his shoulder. He jumped into the pool just as the camera took a rapid series of photos.

At school on Monday Veronica had gifted Logan with a framed copy of her favorite photo from the series.

END FLASHBACK/DREAM

A sound from the hall woke Logan from his dream-memory. A glance at the clock on his nightstand showed it to be just after four am. The LED glow cast just enough light to dimly see the photo he had left out last night, bringing a small smile to his face. Then he heard the sound again and a door closing. He stiffened and felt Veronica roll over toward him.

"What is tha…"Logan quickly rolled over and muffled her words with his hand.

"Shhh…come here and pretend to still be asleep." He whispered very softly as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He could feel her heartbeat speed up and felt as though his heart would jump out of his chest. _It's the adrenaline, just the adrenaline._ He turned her small frame so her back was to his chest with both of them facing away from his door.

He heard two more doors down the hall shut before his own door was soundlessly opened. He struggled to keep his breathing slow and sleep-like. Logan heard his father's huff of displeasure upon finding Veronica in his son's bed. _I'll pay for this, too, but at least I'll have earned it protecting someone, protecting Ronnie._

After the door shut and he could no longer hear Aaron's retreating steps Logan let out a sign of relief. He could feel Veronica relax slightly as well and then she rolled over to face him. She was still in his arms and made no effort to remove could feel a slight tremble running through her body. The first moment of relief had passed and was replaced with something else, fear or maybe anger, he wasn't sure. He began rubbing slow circles on her lower back, hoping to offer her some comfort and himself, too. He whispered almost directly into her ear, "It's okay, he's gone now, he's not going to bother us. I'm here, I won't let him; it's okay." He kept up the stream of mostly meaningless comfort words until her body relaxed against his after a few minutes.

"How did you know?" Veronica looked into Logan's still concerned face, "God, what if I hadn't given in…"She shuddered again.

"I never would have left you alone, Ronnie, no way. Not even if you had refused to stay in here with me. And as to how I knew…it isn't the first time he's snuck into a guest's room uninvited." _Though this is the first time that the person was jailbait_… Logan took a deep breath and steeled himself. "I've heard him sneak into quite a few guest rooms over the years, especially when Trina would have her acting class friends over. They didn't seem to mind. Just like they didn't mind if my mom was home, if I could hear; didn't mind about much at all…I thought _you_ might though, and he doesn't take rejection well. And if you didn't reject him, well…I…it would kill something inside me to hear you with him."

"Oh my god, Logan! I would never…your dad…just no!" She wrapped her arm around his waist and buried her face into his chest. "Ugh, Trina's friends would really sleep with him? He's so creepy and fake."

"They would let him _fuck_ are the only person I know who has ever realized even a fraction of what he's really like. It's how I knew we would be friends when we first met. Do you remember? You informed me that his movies were terrible and he couldn't act to save his life. You apologized when you realized what you'd said." He laughed in a soft huff.

"Yeah, I remember. You bought me ice cream."

"You really were the first person who didn't just say how much they loved him and ask if I would get his autograph or some stupid shit." He tightened his arms around her for a moment, "I'm so sorry, Veronica. I've been such a colossal jackass this past year. God, I knew you didn't deserve it, I was just so angry. You and Duncan are the best friends I've ever had. Now Duncan is just a zombie, and I destroyed our friendship." He pulled his arms away from Veronica and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey." She sat up meeting his eyes, "I'm not saying it's okay, but tonight… Well, I've missed you, too. You're not the only one who lost everything and was angry. And you're not the only one who did the tormenting. If I remember correctly, I got you pretty good more than once." She gave him a half-smile. _God, I love her smiles_…

"Do you think we could be friends again?" He asked her with hope shinning in his eyes.

"I think we can try…but Logan, it doesn't really change anything. Everyone hates me and you being nice to me won't change that. Hell, they'll probably turn on you for the betrayal."

"Like I give a shit what any of them think. Okay, enough serious talk, more sleeping. We'll figure this out." He rolled back onto his side, facing Veronica who was facing him. He reached his hand out for hers and entwined their fingers. It was a gesture of comfort that they had shared many times during all those sleep overs with the Kanes before they had coupled off, and even a few after. "Sweet dreams Ronnie."

"Night, Lo."


	3. Shaking The Wings Of Their Terrible Yout

A/N: I'm still in shock at all the reviews, kudos, PMs… You all are the best!

Very special thanks go out to Bondopoulos and BryroseA for their amazing Beta-ness and discussions!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 - Shaking The Wings Of Their Terrible Youths<strong>

Veronica woke the next morning with her hand still wrapped in Logan's, still feeling a bit jittery from Aaron's late night check-in. _I__'__ve always thought he was creepy, but now__…_

"Hey you." Logan smiled at her with sleepy eyes and gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it to slip out of the bed. "You sleep all right? Well… after, anyway?" He asked as he headed for the bathroom.

"Yeah." She assured him as he shut the door. She got out of the warm bed and stretched while she waited for her turn in the bathroom. As she walked by the window she saw a very unexpected sight. "Logan, Logan! Hurry up, I think Dick's here." She ducked off to the side so that she wouldn't be visible from the driveway and checked again. Sure enough, there was Dick's silver truck.

"What are you yelling about?" Logan emerged from the bathroom with his toothbrush tucked into his cheek.

Veronica grabbed his hand and dragged him to the window, pointing out the most unwelcome arrival. "That, I'm yelling about that!"

"Shit…" he said harshly, "I'm guessing you are less then thrilled at the idea of Dick knowing you stayed the night with me." She nodded. "Okay, um…" He looked around his room for his car keys. "Here's what were going to do, I'm pretty sure he's here to go surfing since it's barely past 7:00 am. You're going to hide out in here until you see us leave, then you are going to take my truck and go home. Aaron won't be up for at least a few more hours but I don't want you to wait. When we pull out you head straight home and then you text me when you get there."

"I guess… I'm not sure about taking your truck." _I don__'__t want him to get in more trouble than he already is; what would Aaron think if he found out I took it?_

"Dick's not going to let me get away with saying no to surfing since I already ditched them last night. So the alternative is for us to walk downstairs together and to explain to Dick why you're here. I'm willing to do that. I meant it when I said I wanted to be friends again, but I can guess how Dick will react, and I'm not looking to get in a fight this early in the morning. "

"Will you get in trouble for letting me take the Xterra?"

"Not any more than I'm already in. Plus this way you'll have to see me later." He smirked at her.

* * *

><p>There was a loud crash down the hall and he was sure his panicked expression was a mirror image of Veronica's. <em>Dick must be coming up the stairs.<em> Logan quickly hustled Veronica into the bathroom and tried to act as normal as possible. _ This just keeps getting better_… Logan thought.

"Hey man, surf's up. Get your shit; we need to get out there!" Dick said excitedly.

"Good morning to you, too. Give me a minute and I'll meet you down in the garage to grab my board. And keep it down, my dad's still asleep, man."

"Sorry dude, I'll be real quiet." Dick said with less enthusiasm.

"Thanks. Now get the fuck out. I'll meet you downstairs." Logan tried to push him out the door.

"Dude, what's your problem? Come on… oh, I get it." Dick gave Logan a shit-eating grin, "You've got _company_, bowchickawowwow." Dick rolled his hips and pointed at Veronica's purse sitting in the chair where she'd left it last night.

"No man, I think that's Trina's, it's been sitting in here for a while…" He said lamely, hoping Dick would buy it.

"Whatever, see you downstairs." Much to Logan's relief, Dick headed out of his room. Logan waited until he heard his friend's padding down the stairs before he chanced calling out to Veronica.

"Veronica. He's gone." He stage whispered to the bathroom door, which swung open at his words. Her hair was tousled and he couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked.

"You need to get down there. I'll wait until I see you guys drive away." Logan started to open his mouth, "And yes, I will text you as soon as I'm back home, I promise."

"Okay, good." Before he could stop himself he had wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. _I can_'_t believe I just did that. But it felt so natural, like old times. She_'_s going to think I_'_m crazy. _He quickly took a step back and began rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah… So I'll see you later." Veronica said, shifting her weight and fidgeting with the edge of the t-shirt she wore.

"I'll call when we're done surfing… I guess a few hours." Logan gathered his phone and wallet and rushed out the door.

* * *

><p>Veronica waited until she saw Dick's truck turn out of the drive way and then, with Logan's keys in hand, she ran to the Xterra. She knew it probably wasn't necessary, but there was no way in hell she wanted to risk running into Aaron. She pressed the unlock button on the keys as she flew through the front door and practically leaped into the truck. She didn't relax until she was driving through the gate at the end of the driveway.<p>

At a stop sign a few miles away, Veronica called Wallace as promised.

"Hey V… everything okay?" Wallace said sleepily.

"Everything's fine. I'm headed home, and I'm calling you as promised." She could hear Wallace fumbling around on his end.

"It's not even 8:00am. I didn't expect to hear from you so early given all that work you had to do last night_,__"_ he snarked at her.

"Hey, give me a break, Papa Bear. I am not my reputation. I really was helping him with something." She defended herself.

"It's not your reputation that is in question here… Anyway…" He stretched out the word, "now that I'm up at this ungodly hour on a Saturday, wanna grab some breakfast?"

They agreed to meet in an hour so she'd have time to take Backup out and to shower. Once home she texted Logan.

**From Veronica Mars to Logan Echolls, 7:53am:  
><strong>Made it home, call me later

He didn't text back, but she hadn't really expected him to.

Wallace met Veronica at her favorite diner, and the pair eagerly settled in to eat big stacks of pancakes and bacon.

"All right V. Start talking. What happened to you last night? One minute you're strutting your way across the beach and the next I'm bringing your purse to Logan Echolls' place."

Veronica started explaining what had happened at the beach the previous night between bites of her breakfast.

"What do you mean Troy took off with your clothes? Why the hell were your clothes off to begin with?!" He was getting pretty agitated.

"Well, yeah, it's hard to skinny dip with your clothes on…" She snorted. _Obviously__._

"And Logan was skinny dipping with you?" This part was clearly confusing him.

"Logan was already at the beach, _which _I did not know. Apparently he heard me yell out to Lilly, realized what I was doing and decided to join me."

"I think I'm missing a key part of this story. Why would he know what you were doing? I thought you guys hated each other. I mean, I know he was Lilly's boyfriend and you were her friend but I just can't see you two having that kind of shared memory."

"I wasn't kidding when I said that Logan and I used to be friends, Wallace. We were best friends long before he ever dated Lilly and until she died. I was actually his first friend—well besides Duncan—when he moved here in the seventh grade."

"I can't believe it V. It does not compute."

"Believe it BFF; we sat next to each other in Mrs. Nelson's class. Duncan had a different teacher so Logan didn't know anyone except me. You may not believe it now but Logan is actually shy." Wallace gave her a look, "Okay, not shy in the normal sense. He could always command a crowd and did, but when it came to actually being himself… not so much."

FLASHBACK

"Thank god you're in this class too." Logan said to her as he dropped into the chair next to her. The classroom was setup with a bunch of small tables that sat two people. Veronica had chosen this table because it was on the side of the classroom with windows and near the front. She liked to be able to look outside when she was bored.

"Hey Logan." She smiled at him brightly. They had hung-out a few times now. First at a soccer tournament that both she and Duncan played in, and then later when she was over at the Kane's with Lilly. "You don't know anyone else yet?"

He shook his head, "Just you, Duncan, and Lilly. Not that she counts for much…"

"Oh come on, she's my best friend." Veronica stuck up for her less-than-easy to get along with BFF.

"And she's a royal bitch." Logan winked at her and they both laughed, earning them stares from their classmates who were busily staking out their seats for the year.

"You'll help me, right? I missed a bunch of school last year after a snowboarding accident and I'm kinda nervous." He said very quietly.

"Of course I will, 'stick with me kid and you'll go places.'" She quipped at him in an 'Old Hollywood' voice.

"Said the envelope to the stamp!" Logan quoted back at her, causing them to both laugh loudly again, and earning them more curious looks. "Promise you won't ditch me, Ronnie? I don't know any of these people and you've seen what it's like as soon as they figure out who I am. I don't want to have to listen to a list of Aaron's achievements on my first day of school."

"I promise." She told him sincerely. He reached out for her hand and squeezed it tightly for just a moment before releasing it.

END FLASHBACK

Veronica cringed as the memory washed over her. It had seemed so innocent at the time… a snowboarding accident. She had broken her wrist snowboarding so it hadn't seemed so far-fetched at the time. But now, knowing what she did about Aaron, she was suspicious.

"Ok fine. So he was a nice kid at twelve; sixteen is clearly not going as well." Wallace brought her out of her thoughts.

"Can't argue with you there."

While they finished their breakfast, Veronica told Wallace a heavily edited version of the rest of her night.

"I maintain that you should avoid this guy at all costs. I don't care how nice he was in the seventh grade, V. He's still the psychotic jackass who made it clear to everyone that you were fair game for torment." Wallace said. Veronica knew she couldn't argue with that either, despite whatever truce she and Logan had made the previous night.

"That's why you're my BFF, Papa Bear. I'll take it under advisement."

When Veronica got home, she started some laundry and tidied up the apartment while solidifying her plan to return Logan's truck and extract herself as quickly as possible. Maybe they could maintain their truce, but rebuilding their friendship was not something she was going to jump back into right away.

* * *

><p>Logan was silently pensive during the drive to the beach with Dick and Beaver. With everything that had happened the night before, he was finding it difficult to process how he felt about all this new information. His new 'friendship' with Veronica had Logan both excited and a little terrified. When they were kids he'd had a major crush on her, but nothing had ever gone farther than flirtatious innuendo. She was his best friend, and, at the time, it hadn't been worth it to him to risk losing her; he had so few real friends. Just when he had started to think it might be worth it, he'd gotten caught in Hurricane Lilly. After all that had happened between he and Veronica over the past year, Logan knew he was lucky that she was even considering being his friends again. He could admit his crush had never truly gone away, but Logan had no doubt that his behavior after Lilly died had ruined any chance of them ever being more than friends. He huffed audibly.<p>

"Dude, what's your damage? You haven't said two words and you keep making all these emo sounds." Dick's words pulled Logan out of his thoughts.

Not wanting to talk yet, Logan gave Dick the universal sign for 'fuck-off'.

"Wow, you're usually a lot more fun than this after you get laid." Beaver said from the back seat, earning himself the same hand gesture.

Ignoring Logan, Dick and Beaver prattled on about the importance of a quality lay and how lame the dance had been last night. Logan tuned them out easily; it was a coping device he'd used for years. He was still confused about a lot of what had happened the previous night. Veronica had said she didn't like how Aaron had looked at him, but he wouldn't have thought that would be enough to instantaneously turn his worst enemy into his protector. But that was exactly what had happened. And then he had returned the favor._ Some friend I am, exposing her to Aaron__…_ But Logan was sure that he hadn't imagined their renewed bond while protecting each other from Aaron. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that he wanted to protect her. And not just from his dad, but from anyone or anything that might hurt her. _I am superbly fucked up__…_ _I destroyed her headlights less than a month ago and now I want to be her fucking knight in shining armor_…_tarnished armor more like._ Logan laughed to himself. Dick gave him a strange look but, fortunately, kept his mouth shut for once.

Thinking about that day on the beach when he broke her head lights reminded him of that Wally kid's comment about having hurt her enough already. _What did he mean?_ Sure, plenty of pranks had been pulled, but slashed tires and cruel rumors didn't equate to anyone actually _hurting_ Veronica. He supposed he was with the right people to do some reconnaissance. Dick might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but he had a real head for gossip and knew everything that went on in Neptune. And Beaver was so unimposing that people said things in front of him without even meaning to, so he was often a fount of this type of information.

They arrived at the beach and were unloading their gear when a silver SUV pulled up next to them. As Duncan Kane and Casey Gant jumped out, Logan's phone played the Law & Order "Dun Dun", the sound he had assigned to text messages from Veronica.

**From Nancy Drew To Logan Echolls, 7:53am:  
><strong>Made it home, call me later

Dick looked over his shoulder. "Who's Nancy Drew? I knew you had a chick in your room; no way Trina would have a purse like that." Casey and Beaver both gave Logan a questioning look.

"Seriously, Fuck-off!" Logan snapped, pulling up his wetsuit.

"Dudes, we've got emo Logan today." Dick said, slapping Duncan on the back.

"I'm not emo. I'm just hungover." Logan informed them before anyone else could comment. He grabbed his board and headed toward the water. He was the first out and was glad to miss whatever conversation was going on back in the parking lot. They may have been his best friends, but sometimes he could barely tolerate them. Duncan used to be the exception, but zombie Duncan was hardly what Logan thought of as fun or even engaging. The fact that Duncan was out surfing this morning was a good sign, but Logan didn't want to get his hopes up.

Dick joined Logan a few minutes later, bobbing on the ocean waiting for a good set. "Look man, I was just busting your balls. Hair of the dog?" Dick asked, passing Logan the flask that he always had on him. Logan usually had one of his own but he'd forgotten it in his rush to get Dick out of his house before he saw Veronica.

Logan took a fortifying sip. "Dick, do you know if anyone has…" he paused, feeling uncertain.

"Dude, you know Sean's the one to talk to about drugs. I just got a sweet little pipe the other day that we should totally christen together if you pick something up."

"No man, I don't want weed. Um… I was wondering if you had heard anything about anyone hurting Veronica?" He rushed to get the words out and didn't make eye contact with Dick.

"What do you care about that skank? You know we hurt her all the time. Hell, I slashed her tires myself just the other day." Dick said proudly as the other three boys finally joined them.

"That's not what I mean. I mean hurt her, like, physically." Logan tried to sound nonchalant but there was an edge to his voice he was pretty sure even Dick wouldn't miss.

"I don't know man; isn't she the one who does the hurting with that freaky-ass stun gun thingy?" Dick responded.

"She didn't used to be like that. Maybe if you hadn't been such assholes to her she wouldn't have gone all super-bitch." Casey directed his comment at Logan. Casey was an 09er, and sometimes an asshole in his own right, but Logan couldn't remember him ever participating in any of the cruel things they had done to Veronica. Or even saying anything bad about her.

"Tell us how you really feel Casey." Duncan joked. They all stared at him open mouthed. Duncan just laughed and started paddling to catch the next wave.

_Duncan made a joke?_

"Seriously though," Casey continued, "it started with that party at Shelly's last year. It's like she was a completely different person after that. Didn't you guys notice?" They all shook their heads.

_Was that when she changed? _Logan stared out at the incoming set thinking back to that party. He'd been a mess drinking almost constantly, fucking anything with a pulse, and taking his anger—_and my guilt if I_'_m honest with myself_—out on Veronica.

"That girl was not Veronica Mars. She was making out with random people. Didn't you use her as a salt lick?" Casey looked at Logan, who nodded in confirmation. Casey turned his attention to Dick, "You and Sean were pouring shots down her throat until Duncan made you stop. What do you think Logan? That sound harmful to you?" Casey asked him with a smirk.

"Whatever. She's just some skank." Dick declared and paddled for the next wave in the set.

Logan covered his face with his hands to try to hide the anguish he was sure was only too obvious. "I was spending most of my time in a bottle then. I wasn't thinking much of anything. Now…" He didn't know how to finish the sentence. "Look Casey, have you heard anything? I get what you're saying, all of that was hurtful, but I think someone might have actually hurt her. You know, like physically hurt her. Do you think it could have been that night?"

"I really don't know. But she was different after that party." Casey said with a sigh.

"She stayed the night there." Beaver said quietly, surprising Logan, who had forgotten that Dick's brother was even there.

Duncan paddled back up after his ride, "Who stayed the night where?" He asked, rejoining the conversation.

"Veronica, at Shelly Pomroy's last December. Madison told me about seeing her the next morning when she was writing 'slut' and 'Abel it should have been her' on Veronica's car. She said her dress was torn and that she was crying and limping." Beaver shared with them, an impish grin on his face.

Logan felt sick to his stomach, and, from the look on Casey's face, he suspected Casey felt the same way. They both looked at Duncan who hadn't said anything yet, but his face had visibly paled.

"Who died?" Dick asked with a chuckle, having returned from his ride.

Without responding, Logan started paddling to catch the next wave. He needed to get away from them before he did something stupid, like punch Dick for being an asshat, throw-up, or both.

The now mostly somber group surfed the rest of the morning without further mention of Veronica or anything else. The lack of conversation continued once they lay on the beach, exhausted. Dick tried to get them going a couple of times and finally gave up. "God you are all a bunch of emo fucks today! Come on Beav, let's get out of here."

"Dick, can you give Casey a ride? I need to talk to Duncan." Logan asked.

"Fine dude, whatever. Coming Casey?" Wordlessly, Casey gathered his things and followed Dick up to his truck.

Once they had driven away, Logan looked at Duncan, "Come on DK, get your shit." Logan stood up and headed for the silver Mercedes SUV that had been Lilly's. He strapped his board to the top and then did the same to Duncan's. They stripped out of their wetsuits and climbed into the SUV. Duncan went to put the car in gear, but Logan stopped him. "You know what I'm going to ask you." Logan said, staring out at the waves.

"No, I have no clue Logan. What is your problem?" Duncan snapped.

"What happened to Veronica at that party? You 'rescued' her from me during the salt lick and led her away. And I may have been wasted but I haven't forgotten that you begged me for my dose of liquid-X that night. What happened?" Logan growled. He could feel his temper rising as he glared at Duncan. Then Logan watched as his friend's usually impassive expression transformed into one he had never seen before and couldn't quite place. But in a flash it was gone again, as quickly as it had come, replaced by Duncan's now customary mask of indifference.

"Nothing happened man. Nothing, I promise. She was really out of it, so I took her to one of the guest bedrooms and put her to bed. I was pretty upset to see her acting that way at the party, so I took the X myself and spent the rest of the night with Shelly."

"You left her passed-out alone? Fuck man, what if she'd had alcohol poisoning?" _I just let him walk away with her. God, I didn_'_t even care. _"What if something worse had happened to her? What is the matter with you?" What is the matter with me? I hooked-up with that freshman and didn't think about Veronica again that night.

"What's the matter with _me_? What the fuck is the matter with you? Since when do you care about Veronica? Last I remember, you, oh great King of the 09ers, were leading the charge against her." Duncan spoke the harsh words nonchalantly, as if he were discussing the weather. It completely creeped Logan out. Duncan shifted his gaze out toward the ocean, nodded his head once, started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

They didn't speak for the rest of the drive, and Logan was more than ready to be out of Duncan's car when they arrived at his house. Without a word to his friend, Logan quickly grabbed his things and unhooked his board. The second he had it off the roof, Duncan peeled out of Logan's driveway like there was a fire.

Logan dug out his phone and sent a text.

**From Logan Echolls to Nancy Drew, 12:37pm:  
><strong>Have lunch with me?

**From Nancy Drew to Logan Echolls, 12:38pm:  
><strong>Maybe, when?

**From Logan Echolls to Nancy Drew, 12:38pm:  
><strong>Pick me up in 45min - Italian or Thai

**From Nancy Drew to Logan Echolls,12:39pm:  
><strong>What do you think?

**From Logan Echolls to Nancy Drew, 12:40pm:  
><strong>Italian it is, see you soon

Logan was so focused on texting with Veronica that he didn't notice his father standing in the doorway of the house.

"What made you think it was okay to go play with your friends this morning?" Aaron's angry voice caused Logan to look up just as his father's fist connected with his cheek, knocking him off balance. Aaron then kicked Logan's legs out from under him, causing him to fall heavily onto the concrete floor of the garage and his phone to fly out of his hand. Logan took the moment his father needed to rebalance to pull his own knees to his chest and to cover his head with his arms. Bruised and broken legs and arms were easier to explain and, in the end, were less painful than ribs and jaws.

_Veronica__… _He thought as Aaron landed a kick to his shins. _Have to make sure_ _this is over before she gets here__…_

Aaron kicked him twice more.

"Get to my study; we're not done."

* * *

><p>Duncan's phone rang as he pulled out of the Echolls' driveway.<p>

"Hello?" Duncan answered.

"Hey Duncan, it's Troy. Man have I got some shit to tell you about. But first… what are you doing tonight?"

"Troy, dude, um… tonight nothing planned. What's up?" Duncan replied.

"Luke and I are making a little run to TJ. Booze, broads, and booze. You down?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, man. That sounds awesome. When are you headed out? I can be ready in like two hours." Duncan told him glancing at the in dash clock.

"I'll pick you up then. See you man." Troy ended the call.

This was the best news Duncan had gotten all day. Kicking the anti-depressants was no cake-walk, but dealing with Logan's bullshit had really put him in a foul mood. TJ was just what he needed.

* * *

><p>AN: Extra thanks and credit go to Bondopoulos for the Wallace & V dialogue in the diner! It was a skimpy descriptive paragraph that she turned into what I think is a great Wallace and Veronica moment :)


	4. I'm Damaged Bad At Best

A/N: More thanks to Bondopoulos and Bryrosea for their beyond great betas! And to everyone for their comments/reviews/kudos/follows/subscribes. You are all amazing!

Warning: There are depictions of violence against a minor in this chapter.

**Chapter 4 - I'm Damaged Bad At Best**

* * *

><p>Veronica felt betrayed by her own emotions. After her conversation with Wallace, she'd decided to heed her friend's warning and keep Logan at arm's length for as long as possible. But she found she couldn't resist him or the slightly giddy feeling she got when Logan asked her to have lunch with him. <em>Ugh…<em> _I am a complete idiot, but it__'__s just lunch; people have lunch together all the time. Anyway, I need to find out how his dad reacted after last night. Yeah, that__'__s what I__'__m really going over for…_ Even she could see through her own lame reasoning.

Veronica took a few minutes to put together a bag before leaving to meet up with Logan. She placed the freshly laundered clothes that she'd borrowed from him in her messenger bag along with a bikini that she wasn't embarrassed to be seen wearing. Years of friendship with Logan had taught her to always be prepared for a swim. She also grabbed what she would need to finish her weekend homework. While she wasn't necessarily expecting to spend the entire day with Logan, she wanted to be prepared for a few different options. She took Backup out for a quick walk and then headed for the Echolls estate.

After entering her code, she parked in front of the open garage. Veronica was surprised to find the door open but grew even more alarmed when she saw Logan's long board lying on the ground. In all of the years she had known him, Logan had always treated his boards like they were his babies. She'd never seen him leave one on the ground like that. Her foot hit something as she continued walking toward the abandoned board; it was Logan's cell phone. _Why would he leave his phone out here like this?_ She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she heard a loud crack.

She entered the kitchen through the garage and followed the sound down the hall to Aaron's study. The door was only open a few inches but it was enough to see Logan on his knees, his back bare and bright red with several open gashes seeping blood. With an audible swish and smack, the belt made contact with Logan's skin again. She heard him groan in obvious pain. Veronica covered her mouth, but that wasn't enough to completely drown out her gasp. Luckily, Aaron had moved on to the speaking portion of the punishment and didn't hear her.

"Maybe next time you'll remember to keep your hands off my $500 a bottle champagne when you want to get a stupid little slut drunk." Logan turned around to face his father and saw Veronica. His eyes widened and he looked terrified for a split second before quickly letting his expression go blank and turning away.

"You two were so fucking sweet all cuddled in your bed like a couple of lovesick fools. I don't care if you want to fuck the hot little bodies you go to school with, but if you knock one of those sluts up, I'll kill you…"

Veronica started to back away from Aaron's study after her brief eye contact with Logan. Once she was a little further down the hall she quickened her pace, heading for the door she had come in through. She opened and closed it loudly and started giggling holding her phone up like she was talking on it. Doing her best impression of a vapid teenage girl, she started speaking loudly. "Oh my god, I can't believe you said that to her, you are such a bitch! Hey, I'm at Logan's. I'll have to call you later. Bye-ee." She tried to make as much noise as possible to alert Aaron to her presence.

She was halfway back into the kitchen when she saw Aaron coming down the hall. A huge fake grin plastered on his too tan face. "Veronica, I didn't realize you were coming back over today." He leered at her legs again, making her regret her decision to wear shorts.

"Logan and I are writing an article together for journalism and we have an AP History exam to study for." She patted her overstuffed messenger bag, trying to maintain her upbeat tone to mask her terrified ferocity.

"Oh, I see. Why don't you go see if he's in his room? I'm not sure where he's gotten off to." His smile never faltered but his twinkling 'Hollywood-Eyes' had gone flat and narrowed slightly.

"Okay then, thanks Mr. Ec… I mean Aaron." She gave him a tight smile and took off toward the stairs at a brisk walk. As soon as she was out of his sight, Veronica ran the rest of the way to Logan's room.

Of course he wasn't there. She hadn't expected him to be, since the only way to the stairs from Aaron's study would have led Logan past the kitchen and them. So she waited and tried not to think about what could be happening downstairs. Five minutes later, a very pale and defeated looking Logan opened the door.

He held a finger up to his lips, "Ronnie, I totally forgot you were coming back over. I wrecked really bad surfing this morning and haven't gotten cleaned up yet. Give me a few minutes and we can get started." He said it all very matter of fact and a little louder than he would normally speak.

She followed his lead, "Okay, I'll just order us some takeout while you patch yourself up. I told you that surfing hung-over was a bad idea. You're lucky you weren't seriously injured, you klutz." She pretended to laugh at him and pulled out her phone to call in their food order. Instead of Italian, she decided on Thai since it was one of Logan's favorites. _I can__'__t believe I ever bought his stories about being accident-prone. He is the most graceful person I__'__ve ever known. How did Lilly and Duncan not know about this? Or did they?_ The thought made her blood boil.

Veronica heard footsteps moving away from Logan's room as she finished placing their lunch order. She visibly relaxed, knowing that Aaron was out of earshot. Logan moved stiffly to the bathroom and tried to pull his t-shirt off, but doubled over when he started to pull it up. Veronica moved to his side and gently lifted the shirt away from his bloody back and carefully over his head. She could see tears gathering in the corners of Logan's eyes, which did nothing to stop those already in hers from spilling over.

She led him to the toilet and indicated that he should sit down while she went through his medicine cabinet looking for disinfectant and bandages. She saw a bottle of Oxycontin prescribed in Lynn's name on the shelf. She filled a glass that was sitting by the sink with water, shook out two of the pills and handed them to Logan. Carefully, she cleaned each cut and applied a bandage. But there was nothing she could do about the bruises that were blooming darkly across his back, arms and cheek.

She cupped his face, softly touching the bruise on his cheek, and felt him lean into her touch. His arms came around her waist and he pulled her closer to him as he rested his unmarked cheek against her stomach. She wanted to bolt out of the bathroom and escape everything she was feeling but she couldn't bring herself to leave him. Not like this.

When Logan spoke it was barely above a whisper, "No one's ever done that for me."

"You didn't want your mom to know?" She asked back, whispering as well.

"She knows."

Veronica didn't know what to say. She suspected pity would make him angry and she couldn't find the words to tell him how what she had seen made her feel. Angry, terrified, defeated; things she was sure he felt, too. What good would it do to say them now? She reached her hand up and ran her fingers through his hair, gently letting her nails scrape against his scalp like she knew he liked.

FLASHBACK

"No, Lilly, you're doing it wrong. Watch!" Logan pushed Lilly away from the sink where she was shampooing the dye out of Veronica's hair. They had decided to put temporary highlights in Veronica's hair and lowlights in Lilly's. It was, according to Lilly, supposed to be a fun girl's spa day for them to get over both of their breakups and ready to meet new, more exciting guys. But Veronica felt more like it was 'torture Veronica day'.

"Lilly you're supposed to massage the scalp not tear it up with your nails." And he proceeded to work the shampoo into Veronica's hair while very gently letting his short nails scrape her scalp.

She moaned in pleasure, "Mmmm… Oh. My. God. Logan where did you learn to do this?" She asked breathily, enjoying having her scalp massaged.

"Um…" he coughed, "Sometimes I go to my mom's stylist and I really like it when she does this." He finished working in the shampoo and started to rinse it out.

"I'm bored, come get me when you _girls_ are done." Lilly called to them as she left the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, Veronica." He whispered when he heard the door close.

"What for?" She asked softly, still surprised he had been as forgiving of her telling Lilly about his kiss with Yolanda. But when Duncan had broken up with her without so much as a word he'd been there for her.

"For not getting here sooner. I was with DK and I couldn't exactly tell him that I was ditching him to save you from Lilly."

"Please don't tell Lilly. I know she's trying to cheer me up but… it's not working."

"What would work?" He asked her.

"You massaging some conditioner into my tortured hair and scalp might." She smiled up at him.

"Let's see." He held up an open hand. "Hot girl - check, makes cute, sexy sounds during said _procedure_ - double-check, teenage boy - check… four out of five; I think we've got a deal." He said laughing.

"What would make it five out of five?" Veronica asked.

"Nudity." Logan replied grinning from ear to ear.

They bantered back and forth about what constituted cute versus sexy sounds while he finished washing her hair. She felt better than she had in the past week.

END FLASHBACK

* * *

><p>The gate buzzer sounded through the intercom, breaking the moment. Logan shifted away from Veronica and released her waist. She stepped aside, giving him room to move past her. He hit a button on a small control panel in his room that opened the gate. He started to bend down to grab a t-shirt from the floor but Veronica beat him to it and helped him slip it on. Slowly, they made their way downstairs to the front door where the delivery guy was waiting for them. Logan threw some bills at him while Veronica held the food.<p>

"Kitchen or back upstairs?" She asked him.

"Upstairs." He didn't want to risk running into Aaron again, especially with Veronica in those skimpy shorts. "If you're going to be over when Aaron's here you should maybe wear jeans—baggy, unflattering ones." Logan said, his tone light but his expression very serious.

"I realized that earlier, but there's nothing I can do about it right now." She shuddered, reminding Logan of how she had reacted the day before when Aaron leered at her.

"No, I guess not." Then he grinned at her loopily. "You could put some of my clothes back on. Just so you know, if it's just me feel free to wear as little as possible. I love looking at your legs." He smirked at her, enjoying the thought of her in his clothes or, even better, maybe out of them. _Where did that come from? _Logan thought.

"Hey now, don't look at me like that." She tilted her head and winked at him then stepped onto the stairs and moved up a few ahead of him. "You like looking at my legs, huh?"

_Interesting…_ he thought as he watched her sashay up the stairs.

When they got back in his room, Veronica insisted he sit down and relax while she spread out all the different cartons of food. The Oxycontin didn't do much for Logan's appetite, but he knew how much Veronica could eat so he figured they'd still finish everything and laughed to himself. His laugh turned into a hiss from the pain searing through his back and abdomen. _Dammit…getting the shit beat out of you sucks…_

"Logan? How badly are you hurt?" She set her carton down and gave him a look that was almost maternal. Not a look his mom would give, of course, but one from someone who really cared; someone not drowning in a bottle.

"I'm good. No broken bones, so I'd put this one in the 'Logan Winning' column." _Jesus, I shouldn__'__t have said it like that. _She stared at him like he had grown a second head then turned away. He could see her eyes glisten, but no tears fell. "Really Veronica, I promise I'm okay. I heal fast. By Monday it'll be like it never happened." She nodded her head, but he could tell that this conversation wasn't over.

They ate their takeout mostly in silence, passing the various cartons back and forth so that they each got a bit of everything—except for the spring rolls, which Veronica devoured all on her own. _She must have a tapeworm or something. How can someone so tiny eat so much?_ It had always surprised him; even Lilly, who would eat in front of him, was pretty picky about what she ate. But Veronica had never been that way, and it was always fun to watch her. Lilly had joked to him and Duncan that watching Veronica eat should be a category of porn. Veronica had protested at first, clearly disturbed, but the topic soon become an ongoing joke between the rest of them.

"Logan?"

"Veronica?"

"When you moved here in the seventh grade… you told me you had missed a bunch of school the previous year because of a snowboarding accident…" She let her words hang.

"Right, a month…or maybe it was five weeks. That was not so much a 'snowboarding accident' as a 'beaten-with-a-snowboard intentional.'" He said wryly.

"Jesus." She hissed under her breath.

"Yeah, that one definitely goes in the 'Logan Loses' column. One concussion, fifteen stitches on my head, one broken leg, a broken arm and three broken fingers. Plus, I bled when I peed for like a week or two. He was a lot more careful about what he hit me with after that. I think he must have paid off the social worker that time," he deadpanned. Sighing, he gave up all pretense, clearly exhausted. He didn't want to talk about this, but Nancy Drew over there would, no doubt, push until he gave up the goods anyway. And he just didn't have any fight left in him. _So much for keeping all this from her…_ "I actually think it pushed them to move us to Neptune. They'd run out of emergency rooms and doctors that they could take me to without anyone getting suspicious."

"God Logan, and your mom knows…" She looked horrified. "Duncan? Lilly?"

"I'm not sure about Duncan, but Lil' had to know. She saw the bruises and cuts. She never asked."

"I can't believe I didn't realize… all this time. How did I not know?" Tears were sliding down her cheeks.

"I worked really hard to make sure you didn't know. I knew you would tell your dad and there was nothing he could do. Not against the Great Aaron Echolls!" He angrily threw his arms wide in a grand gesture and winced. "It's not as bad as it seems; he's not around much, and when he is I usually avoid him as much as possible. You remember how much time I spent at the Kanes'." She nodded. She had been there almost as much as he had.

"Yeah, I remember, I was hiding from my own… problems, too. I haven't heard from her in months." She spoke sadly.

Logan nodded, feeling his own bitterness for shitty mothers. _Neither of us can catch a break, can we? _

"Well, aren't we the sunshine and rainbows committee?" He sighed and moved to sit closer to Veronica, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. _The Oxy is finally kickin__'_ _in_…_nice. _He thought when he only felt a twinge as he lifted his arm this time.

"Am I the sunshine or the rainbows?" She asked looking faux serious.

"Definitely sunshine; you practically have a halo. Anyway, I'm the colorful one." He pointed to the bruise on his cheek.

"Do you want to talk more about it?"

"Ugh… no, I didn't even want to talk about this. It's too much. Shit, Veronica, I didn't want you to know all this crap." He shakily let out a breath. "I think I need to take a nap before I spill any more of my secrets to my _greatest enemy_." He pointed an unsteady finger at her. _Wow, I__'__m losing it. How many of those did I take? Two from Veronica…_ _two more while she set up lunch…_ then a _couple hits from the flask under the sink…_ _Yeah, that__'__d do it._

"I'm not your enemy Logan, but go ahead. I'll just study while you rest."

"Go home Veronica, you don't have to guard me. I've been living with this for years." He slipped carefully under the covers of his bed to lie on his side.

"I can't, I was in your truck, remember?"

He was fading fast, "Take it…don't talk… to… Aaron." His eyes felt heavy. "Later though…" his eyes closed, "talk… Shelly…" and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Veronica settled in at Logan's small desk and studied for their AP History exam. Logan slept so soundly that Veronica felt the need to check on him frequently to make sure he was still breathing. After about two hours, she could hear Logan whimpering and sounding distressed. She walked over to the bed and gently touched his shoulder. "Logan, it's just a dream, wake up."<p>

His eyes opened wide and wild. Then he unexpectedly reached out and pulled Veronica to him, burying his face in her stomach. She let him cling to her for a few moments, then slowly leaned away so she could see his face.

"Logan? Are you okay?"

"Stayed… you… still here…." He mumbled incoherently.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Why don't you try to go back to sleep?" She brushed his slightly-damp hair off of his forehead.

He tightened his hold on her, "Here… come here." He started to scoot away from the edge of the bed, pulling Veronica along with him.

"Logan stop," she said gently, trying to extricate herself from his tight grip. Undeterred, he continued dragging her onto the bed. She felt a familiar panic begin to rise up from the pit of her stomach; her legs turned to jello and her heart raced. "Logan. Stop!" She said with all the force she could muster.

He opened his eyes, "Please Veronica." He said it so quietly that she barely heard him. He didn't let go of her, but he loosened his grip and stopped pulling.

Veronica felt the panic recede slightly as his grip on her relaxed. "Logan, I need you to let go of me. If you can do that I'll get into bed with you."

He looked up at her with unfocused eyes and let go of her waist.

"Thank you." She said, full of relief. After a few deep breaths, she carefully climbed onto the bed and let Logan lay his head in her lap. She gently resumed the scalp massage she'd been giving him earlier and continued to take deep breaths as she counted down from one hundred. By the time she reached zero he had fallen back asleep. Veronica slumped down against the headboard and pillows, trying to find a more comfortable position. Logan's slow inhalations and the feel of his steady pulse were soothing to her frayed nerves. She focused on his body's rhythm and found herself drifting.

She woke with a start. It was dark outside and Logan was no longer sprawled across her lap. She could hear the faucet running in the adjacent bathroom. It shut off and Logan came back into the room, still a little unsteady on his legs.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you? I tried to be quiet but I'm feeling a little… um…"

"High?" She offered.

"Yeah, high." He giggled.

_Great, Logan is high on painkillers and I just lost…_she looked at the clock…o_ver an hour of study time. _She wanted to be mad. In fact, she was sure that she was mad, mad at Aaron, mad at losing study time, but not mad at Logan. Try as she might she found it pretty hard to imagine being mad at this six-foot-tall, teenaged boy who was giggling like a little girl.

He staggered back to the bed and threw himself over Veronica's legs. A look of pain crossed his face, finally stopping his giggles. "Owww." He whined.

"Did that hurt? I'm amazed you can feel anything at all. How many Oxys did you take?" She asked very seriously.

His eyes were still unfocused but they were directed at her. "Um… how many did you give me?"

"Two."

"I think four or maybe five then. Definitely not more than five. And then whatever was in my flask." His giggles were back.

"Logan we can't let your dad see you like this." She was sure that, if the champagne theft had led to his current injuries, being caught high as a kite, even if it was because of said current injuries, was not going to earn him any goodwill from Aaron.

At her words Logan shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, Aaron will be very un… happy with me."

"Will he bother us if we stay up here?" She asked.

"We're supposed to have 'family'dinner." He made wiggly-quote fingers and erupted in giggles again.

"Okay. I'll take care of it. Stay here for just a minute." Veronica patted him gently on the head and squeezed his hand. Her anxiety from earlier was starting to build again. _How am I going to get him out of here?_ She walked to the window, noticing that he tracked her every movement with his whole head rather than just his eyes.

Logan's Xterra was right next to Aaron's silver Mercedes sedan, where she had parked it earlier. _So much for small miracles._ It was possible that Aaron had left with his driver, but Veronica wasn't prepared to take the chance. She started moving around the room, collecting all of her belongings before packing a bag for Logan.

Ten minutes later, Veronica had them both packed and ready to make the journey to his truck. She debated taking their bags out first then coming back for Logan, but she decided it wasn't worth the extra time. She put on the backpack that she had filled for Logan, and then she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. Logan had watched her the whole time, and his eyes looked a little clearer than before.

"Okay Logan, here's the plan. I'm going to take you to my house. Dad's gone until at least Monday so you can sleep on the couch until then."

"Okay, 'Ronica." He held out his hand to her as he rolled off the bed.

He put his arm across her shoulders as they made their way out of his room. When they approached the staircase, she carefully wrapped her arms low around his hips. Their descent was slow, but they made it without incident. They continued all the way to the entryway before Veronica heard a door shut. She rushed to get them out of the door, shoving Logan through and quickly shutting it behind them. He had gone down on one knee in her haste, but recovered quickly, considering his impaired state.

"I don't think… we're going… to make it." Logan huffed out between hisses of pain.

"Keep moving; we're almost there." She had the passenger door open and Logan was leaning heavily on her to get in. She pulled the seat belt across quickly, opened the rear door to toss their bags in and ran to the driver's side door.

She turned the ignition over just as Aaron knocked on the window. She jumped a mile and looked at Logan who had turned his face away. She schooled her features and pressed the button for the window to go down.

"Mr. Ec… Aaron, how can I help you?" She asked as sincerely as possible.

"Where are you kids off to?" He asked with a crocodile smile.

"To grab some dinner and then to keep working on our homework at my place. We'll probably be working on it most of tomorrow, too."

"I'm surprised to see you putting so much effort into your school work Logan." Aaron said sternly.

Veronica watched as Logan slowly and deliberately turned his head to look at his father. "Veronica doesn't suffer fools gladly." He quoted and turned away again.

"Um… of course not." Aaron replied as if flustered. He was clearly no stranger to his son's quips and wit, but Veronica could tell that Logan's comment had gone over Aaron's head. "Absolutely. I'm so pleased that your friendship is having such a fine influence on him, Veronica. Well, you kids have fun."

Veronica threw the car into reverse and was already rolling down the driveway as Aaron stepped back from the truck. She drove straight to the Sunset Cliffs Apartment complex that she and Keith called home.


	5. All This Talk Is Getting Me Down

A/N: Huge thanks once again to Bondopoulos and Bryrosea! This story is so much better thanks to them J

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 - All This Talk Is Getting Me Down<strong>

* * *

><p>By the time Veronica pulled his car up to her apartment, Logan was grateful that he could feel the Oxy fog start to clear. He never expected Veronica to stick around for any of this, let alone actually bring him home with her. She helped him out of the car and into her apartment, where the puppy he barely remembered when they were friends was now a full-grown, scary-ass pitbull.<p>

Logan hesitated at the doorway, waiting for Veronica to harness the killer dog. Much to his surprise the dog—'Backup' she'd called him—sniffed his leg and threw himself at Logan's feet for a belly rub. He carefully knelt down and obliged the no longer scary dog.

"Oh, Backup. You are such a killer aren't you? You're going to eat me alive!" Logan could feel a case of the giggles building again but was able to keep most of them down. After a minute of indulging the dog, he slowly walked toward the couch with Backup ghosting his every move.

"Seriously, Backup? Some guard dog you are!" Veronica scolded as she unloaded their bags.

Logan settled himself on the couch and Backup didn't hesitate before curling up next to him, putting his sweet, blocky face in Logan's lap. Logan absently patted Backup's head and rubbed his ears, much to the dog's delight.

"You wanna tell me what you want for dinner or do you need a little more time to flirt with my dog?" Veronica snapped, clearly irritated at Backup's blatant affection for Logan.

"Admit it, you think it's adorable that I turned your attack dog to goo." A few giggles escaped from him.

"Less adorable, more annoying." Veronica snarked at him and held up a few takeout menus.

"You still know how to make grilled cheese?" Logan asked.

She glared at him, but there wasn't any heat behind it. "Of course."

"I want grilled cheese and tomato soup." He said with childlike exuberance. He gave her the famous Logan smile that always managed to melt even the coldest of hearts.

"I think I can do that." She turned away and started digging through cupboards, pulling out pans and the necessary ingredients.

Logan was mesmerized. When Veronica was set on a task she always moved with such deliberation. No movement wasted. It was something he had always admired about her.

Growing up an Echolls had it perks, for sure, but the things he had really missed as a child were the more normal things: box mac and cheese, sleepovers with smores, and holidays that weren't a production, literally_._ Consequently, he didn't have his first grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup until he was a teenager. There had been plenty of sandwiches and soups over the years but never combined and certainly never with anything as simple as American cheese or Campbell's soup. The few times a nanny or maid had tried to give him regular food, Aaron had expressed his anger at his son eating such 'plebian fare'.

A few minutes later, delicious smells filled the combined kitchen/living room. Logan tilted his head back and inhaled the aroma. He remembered that the first time he'd had this particular delicacy it had also been prepared by Veronica. They'd been hungry one rainy day at the Kane's when the household staff had the day off, and Veronica was the only one who knew how to do anything in the kitchen.

**FLASHBACK**

"I'm starving! Why did Celeste have to give the staff the day off?" Lilly griped as the group of four wandered into the large kitchen.

"I'll just order something. Quit bitching." Logan snapped at Lilly. _God she__'__s annoying. _Lilly was getting ready to start her freshman year of high school, and Logan hadn't thought it was possible but her annoying factor had increased along with her hotness.

"We don't have to order anything. I'll make us something to eat." Veronica confidently walked into the huge kitchen and started opening cupboards, selecting items that could be used to make them a meal.

Logan couldn't take his eyes off of her. She had moved into the pantry and was on tiptoes trying to get something far out of her reach. Without a thought, Logan moved to help her, causing him to collide with Duncan who apparently had the same idea. Duncan bowed out, allowing Logan to step forward and grab the two little Campbell's cans off the top shelf.

"Thanks." Veronica said, smiling brightly as she resumed the preparation of a meal that Logan was entirely unfamiliar with.

He took a seat back at the island and continued to watch her, but now he was also watching Duncan. His friend seemed equally intrigued by Veronica's actions. Veronica moved to the stove to heat up the soup and grill the sandwiches that she had assembled. A very displeased Lilly appeared before him and Duncan.

"What the hell is the matter with you two? Haven't you ever seen someone cook before?" Lilly was clearly pissed because she wasn't the center of attention.

Logan always assumed that was one of the main reasons Lilly dragged Veronica with her everywhere. Veronica usually let Lilly run the show and deferred to her on most things. It was strange because Veronica was never like that with him; she never let him get away with anything.

"Have you?" Duncan teased her.

"Veronica, what exactly are you making?" Logan did his best to ignore Lilly.

"Grilled cheese and tomato soup, obviously…" She swept her hand over the evidence that would have been obvious to most, but Logan was not your average teenager.

"Never had it." Logan declared.

Veronica turned around, mouth hanging open in shock. "Well, my friend you are in for a treat. This is a Mars family specialty!"

A few minutes later she served them and sat down. Logan watched as she lifted one of the triangle shaped pieces of her sandwich and dipped it into the soup. She made a little "mmmm" sounds as she ate the bite. She went to dip the sandwich again and saw him watching her.

"What? Am I that entertaining?" She asked.

"Yes, you are. So I dip this," he lifted a wedge of his own sandwich, "in here?" He pointed at the soup. She nodded and dipped hers again and took another bite using exaggerated movements. Logan tried his and couldn't stop himself from making a similar "mmmm" sound. "Wow, you weren't kidding. This is really good."

Veronica smiled, "Thanks. It's easy to make, you know. I could…"

"Thank you Veronica." Duncan interrupted her.

"Sure Duncan, anytime." She leaned around Logan and gave Duncan an easy smile.

Lilly was picking at her sandwich and making huffing sounds until Veronica addressed her. "Yes, Lilly? Is there a problem with the food?"

"It's all carbs and fat. I can't eat it." Lilly pouted.

"Whatever Lilly, I'll eat it. Give it here." Logan leaned over and snatched her plate and bowl. He set them between him and Veronica. "You only made yourself one… we can share Lilly's."

Lilly stormed off, much to Logan's amusement, and the others finished eating their lunch.

Later that night Lilly cornered Logan. "I don't like how you're looking at Veronica." She said petulantly.

"What are you talking about Lilly? How do I _look_ at Veronica?" He was really regretting taking a break from the video game marathon.

"The way you should look at me." She batted her eyes and pressed herself against his chest.

Logan swallowed, his heart racing as she rubbed her breasts against him. "Um… Lilly, what are you doing?" His voice cracked.

"What do _you_ think I'm doing, Logan?" She whispered seductively and slid her hand up to his cheek. "Do you want to kiss me, Logan?" She purred.

He nodded and closed his eyes as Lilly pressed her lips against his. _Maybe not so annoying after all…_ he'd thought as she dragged him into a guest bedroom.

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

><p>Veronica slid the sandwiches onto plates, poured the warmed soup into bowls and set them at the small kitchen-counter seating area. "Dinner's ready." She called to Logan who was staring off into space.<p>

"Oh, sorry. Got distracted."

Veronica watched him carefully get up from the couch and walk stiffly to the kitchen. "You seem… better isn't the right word." She was at a loss for words. "Um… less high? Are the drugs wearing off?"

"Less high," he chuckled. "Yeah, I feel significantly less high, but I'm also starting to hurt more. Do you have something over-the-counter I can take after we eat? As much fun as it was, I'd rather not repeat my earlier performance."

"Something we can both agree on." She smirked at him.

They ate their dinner quickly and settled in the living room to watch some TV. Even with her nap earlier, Veronica was exhausted so she knew Logan had to be even more so. She looked over at him. He was sprawled across the couch with Backup curled up at his feet. His hair stuck up stiffly from the salt water and sweat.

He caught her staring, "Do I look that bad?" He smirked at her playfully, wincing only a little as his bruised cheek pulled. He ran his hand through his hair and frowned. "I haven't showered since surfing… Did you pack me a change of clothes?"

"I did; stay here and I'll get the shower setup." She rose and headed for her small bathroom.

"You know Veronica, I am capable of doing that myself." He called down the short hallway.

"Do you know where I keep the towels?" He didn't respond. "That's what I thought." She set his things in the bathroom along with a clean towel and turned on the hot water. It always took a few minutes to heat up. She headed back to the living room. "Do you need any help?"

"You can join me and scrub my back." He winked at her as he got up off the couch, being careful not to disturb Backup, who was snoring softly. "Seriously though, if you could help me with my shirt and the bandages that would be good. Wet bandages are gross."

He slowly followed Veronica to her room where she pulled out her desk chair, motioning for him to sit. She helped him pull off the t-shirt and carefully removed the bandages, inspecting each cut for signs of infection. "This is really going to sting under the water." She cringed.

"It'll be fine. I've done this before." He said sadly and shut the bathroom door behind him.

_I_'_m going to destroy Aaron Echolls!_ She thought as rage coursed through her. _What kind of father does this? Should I tell dad? Is there anything he can do? _She knew that if she did divulge this to her father, Logan would be furious. He seemed resigned to the fact that she now knew but he hadn't expressed any interest in having her help him stop it… She didn't think he would want her to tell anyone about what she had seen; yet she knew she had to do something. _But what?_

Twenty minutes later, Veronica was still no closer to a decision when Logan emerged from the bathroom dressed in the flannel pajama pants she had packed for him. Veronica moved so he could sit in the chair while she reapplied antibiotic cream and fresh bandages.

He waved away her offer to help him put a fresh shirt on. "I'll be more comfortable without one." He dry swallowed a few ibuprofen from the bottle Veronica had left out on the desk for him. "Not like I have to hide it from you now…" He said softly, rising from the chair and heading back to the living room.

Veronica brought a clean towel for him to lean against so he wouldn't get blood on the couch if he started bleeding through the bandages again. She helped him get settled and then knelt in front of the TV to pick out a DVD for them to watch. "Do you have a preference?" She asked him.

"Something funny?"

The clock said it was only 7:30pm, so she picked out a couple of options in case they wanted to watch more than one. She held up her first choice, _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_. He nodded his agreement.

"Veronica?" He asked as she settled back into the reclining chair. "There's something I want to ask you."

"Okay." Veronica could feel the tension in the room. Logan was gearing up to ask her something she wasn't going to like.

"What happened at Shelly Pomroy's party last year?"

"No." She pulled her knees up and crossed her arms around them.

"Something happened; I know it did. Please tell me."

"No! I'm not talking about this." She jumped out of the chair and practically ran to her bedroom, slamming the door.

_How could he possibly know anything about that night? _She paced a familiar pattern around her room. Her heart raced and her hands trembled. _Deep breaths, slower steps._ She worked to regain control.

"_Veronica, can I please come in?" _ She saw the door open just a crack.

"Fine, fine, come in." She continued to take deliberate steps through the space of her room as he settled himself on her bed and watched her.

"We don't have to talk about… what I asked before. But Veronica, are you okay? Last night you had… like a panic attack after Aaron, and now… I'm worried." His eyes burned with sincerity.

"You're worried? Isn't that refreshing! Weren't so worried about me that night, were you?" She could feel her barely regained control slipping when Logan grabbed her wrist. She yanked it away, "Don't touch me!"

He held up his hands, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I'm sorry." He scooted a little further down the bed, creating more distance between them.

_Deep breath; discomfort not danger, deep breath__._ She chanted in her head. She could feel Logan staring at her, but she pushed it out of her mind. She had to stay focused if she was going to keep it together. No way was she going to let him see just how bad this could get. Logan was the last person she wanted seeing her as vulnerable.

With her breathing back to normal, Veronica let the familiar feel of anger fill her, which strengthened her control. She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge farthest from Logan. "As much as I would _love_ to tell you about that night, the only thing I remember is being handed a rum and coke and then waking up the next day. So I'm afraid you'll have to ask someone else."

She heard him release a shaking breath. "Okay Veronica. Have you talked to anyone about this? You know, like a counselor or something?" He asked in a gentle voice.

"What do you think?" She snapped at him, "Have you talked to anyone about _this?_"She waved her hand at his bare chest.

His eyes down cast, Logan shook his head.

Veronica nodded, stood up and moved back into the living room. She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and curled up next to Backup. "I'm going to hit play if you don't get back in here soon." She called down the hall.

She heard Logan come back into the room and felt the couch move as he resumed his spot against the towel. She hit 'play' and was thankful that he didn't say anything more. A few minutes later, they were both laughing and singing along to the ridiculous song and dance number.

"_Tight tights!"_

Halfway through the movie, Veronica was surprised to find that Logan had fallen asleep. She grabbed another blanket, covering him with it. Before the end of the movie she had fallen asleep on the couch too.

* * *

><p>Luke had been nervous about this trip for days. Last summer Hank Zigman had offered to help Luke get ready for varsity baseball. Luke knew sports were his best bet to get out of Neptune. Sure being the son of a congressman sounded glamorous, but it wasn't. And the fact that his parents were ultra conservative, or at least California's version of it, did nothing to encourage Luke to want to stay nearby after he graduated.<p>

It had started out simple enough. _Here drink this. Oh your muscles are sore…_ _take this. You know if you really want to reach your goal I have this amazing injectable just like they give the pros - real simple…_ By the time Luke had realized what he was doing he was in too deep. He owed Zigman thousands of dollars and had no way to pay him. Prestigious as being a congressman was, the pay didn't go too far when you lived in the 90909. He'd been given the choice pay up or work as a drug mule.

"Are you going to sit back there and mope the whole time?" Troy asked, meeting Luke's eyes in the rearview mirror as they pulled away from the San Ysidro border crossing.

"I just don't see why Duncan gets to sit shotgun." Luke replied petulantly, not wanting to reveal the real reason for his sour mood.

"Duncan gets to sit shotgun because he and I have things to discuss." Troy said mischievously.

"Right, so let's hear it T. What is it you've been dying to tell me?" Duncan asked.

"Well, you know how I was supposed to take your girl Veronica to homecoming?"

"She's not _my _girl. But yes I know you took her to the dance." Duncan replied.

"See that's the thing. I didn't take her to the dance. We were headed there and she insisted we make a stop at the beach. I waited and waited and finally I walked down to the water, and you'll never guess what I saw." Troy said dramatically.

"No, I won't. So just tell me." Duncan sounded impatient.

"I found her dress and a little red lace thong…" Troy pretended to spin an imaginary pair of panties on his finger.

"Dude, why the fuck would you think I'd want to hear about you and Veronica hooking up?" Duncan growled at Troy.

"But that's the best part, man. She wasn't waiting for me. She was skinny dipping with somebody else. Guess who? You gotta guess." Troy was absolutely giddy.

"Um… that new kid. Walter or William?" Luke guessed. He had seen Veronica sitting with the kid at lunch since the first day of school so it seemed like a reasonable guess.

"Nope! Try again." Troy said.

"Weevil?" Duncan laughed out load, catching Luke by surprise.

"Logan _fucking_ Echolls!" Troy crowed, bouncing up and down in the seat.

Troy's declaration was met with absolute silence. Luke couldn't believe it. _Logan? He hated Veronica. And she hated him. Why would they be skinny dipping together?_ This didn't make any sense.

"You're lying." Duncan seethed.

"No man. Saw them with my own eyes. But I did you a solid. I walked off with her clothes. Left her there." He laughed loudly at his prank.

"How is that doing me a solid? You left my gir… ex-girlfriend naked with my best friend."

"Whatever man. It was hilarious. Guess you guys had it right all along. She is a total bitch and a slut." Troy spat out.

* * *

><p>The rest of the trip down to Tijuana was filled with ludicrous tales of Troy's various exploits. Duncan couldn't bring himself to be even mildly interested. When Troy had said Veronica was skinny dipping, Duncan was reminded of homecoming before Lilly died. But <em>his <em>Veronica wouldn't, no couldn't, have done that. It was why he'd guessed Weevil. Because, as ludicrous as that thought was, the reality was even harsher. _Logan and Veronica? Logan and Veronica. Logan and Veronica! _The pattern repeated itself in his mind on a loop.

While in Tijuana, the guys went to all sorts of bars and saw things that Duncan was sure he could go a lifetime without seeing again. But through it all, he couldn't shake the image of Logan with Veronica. _My Veronica._ He wasn't sure what he was going to do about it, but he was certain they would both pay. She was his; they were perfect together. Duncan couldn't let Logan ruin her sweetness—her innocence—that belonged to him. He didn't care if being with her was 'wrong'. _Who are they to tell me whom I can or can__'__t have…_ He thought as he passed out in Troy's dad's car.

"Wake up!" Luke yelled, startling Duncan awake.

"I've spent the past forty minutes listening to Duncan dry-heave so you could buy a deformed piñata?" Troy sounded pissed.

"Dude, everything was closed. It was the cheapest souvenir I could find." Luke laughed. Duncan could hear an edge to his friend's voice, but was too busy in his own head to care.

"All right. Have we had our fill of Tijuana?" Troy asked.

"No." Duncan said.

"Yes." Luke said at the same time.

Troy started the car and headed back toward the border.

_Maybe Troy's mistaken. Veronica would never do that with Logan._ He knew, of course, that Logan would fuck anything that walked his way. But he didn't believe Veronica would do that. Veronica loved him; he knew it. And she hated Logan. No, he was sure that Troy was mistaken. _Then again, _he thought, _Logan was asking an awful lot of questions about Veronica while we were surfing the morning after Homecoming. _If something had happened between them the night before, it would definitely explain Logan's renewed interest in Veronica. But he'd asked about the liquid X…

**FLASHBACK**

Duncan didn't want to go to Shelly's party but Logan had insisted. They all needed this, Logan had said. Let loose. Forget. Duncan knew that Logan had two doses of liquid-X on him; they'd talked about it on the way to the party. Duncan had never dabbled in recreational drug use like Logan and Lilly, but he thought tonight might be a good night to start.

"Logan, you don't need both those doses, do you? Care to share?" Duncan whispered into Logan's ear after taking a walk through the party. "I could use a little something to take the edge off."

Logan started at him blankly, then smirked. "Of course DK. Enjoy." He said, passing him a small vial and slapping him on the back. "Remember, if you're going to take that try to keep the booze to a minimum or you'll just pass out instead of rolling. And you'll fuck anything on this stuff, so if you're gonna hookup you might want to save it for another time." Duncan pocketed the vial as Logan passed along his sage advice.

**END FLASHBACK**

After hours of letting the information that Troy had imparted churn around in his head, Duncan decided that he would call Logan when they got back and find out what was going on. This all had to be a big mistake. He'd never told Logan that he still had feelings for Veronica or why he had broken up with her, but he just couldn't believe Logan would betray him like that. No, neither of them would do that to him. Veronica loved him; they belonged together. He was certain of it.

* * *

><p>"<em>All we want to do is eat your brains, We<em>_'__re not unreasonable, I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes, All we want to do is eat your brains."_

"Wha…" Veronica startled awake to the strange song. She looked around the room and saw Logan's phone lit up on the kitchen island. The phone went silent as she made her way into the kitchen, only to start up the strange ringtone again. She grabbed his phone to see who was calling.

"Zombie Donut." She said out loud, staring at the caller ID. _Is this supposed to be Duncan?_

She decided to answer the call, "Logan's phone." She said in as chipper a voice as she could muster for three in the morning.

"_Veronica?__"_ Duncan's incredulous voice came across the line.

"Yeah, it's me. Logan's asleep. What do you need?" Veronica could hear Duncan clear his throat.

"I need to talk to him. That's why I called _him_." He snapped at her.

Veronica held the phone away and walked over to Logan. "Logan, Duncan's on the phone for you." She shook him gently until his eyes peeked open.

"Donut? Why is he calling?" Logan asked groggily, his eyes drifting back shut.

"He says he needs to talk to you…"

"_Logan, LOGAN! Get on the phone."_ Duncan's voice shouted from the phone hanging by Veronica's side.

Logan slowly reached for the phone and Veronica helped him sit up. His body was clearly stiff from falling asleep in an awkward position.

"Yeah, Duncan. I'm here. What's up man?" Logan asked, pausing and then shaking his head.

"I guess, where you at?" Logan looked up at Veronica and mimed writing. She retrieved a pad of paper and a pen, which Logan began writing on.

"Okay, well it's going to be at least an hour… Yeah, yeah, I'll hurry." He hung up the phone.

"So… I need to go pick up Duncan at the USA Border Grille and Diner." Logan frowned, not looking at Veronica.

"Logan you aren't in any shape to drive!" She told him, alarmed.

"Yeah, I know that…" he looked up at her, "I was kinda hoping you would drive." His lips curved in a crooked smile.

"Ugh! Fine, let's go. Um… you need to put on a shirt… and jeans. I don't want Duncan getting the wrong idea."

Ten minutes later, dressed and caffeinated, they headed out to pick up Duncan.

* * *

><p>AN: I hope you all like Logan's fun ringtones. I have Logan's text message alert tone for Veronica (Law & Order's Dun Dun) but I need a good ringtone for her. Feel free to leave suggestions in comments, to PM me, or on Tumblr.


	6. We're Nothing But Strangers

A/N: Thank you so much to Bondopoulos and BryroseA for editing, conversation, and for holding my hand when I doubted my decisions or needed help fixing them. You are both amazing! Before Bondopoulos got her hands on this chapter the format was… ugh, not good. For the time, effort, and painful Word complications I owe her so much!

More thanks to everyone who had been reviewing, commenting, following, favoriting, leaving kudos. It really is like my birthday every time I get one of those notifications.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6 – We're Nothing But Strangers<strong>

* * *

><p>By the time Logan and Veronica arrived at the diner, Duncan was positively seething. He'd spent the better part of the last hour pacing the diner parking lot trying to get a grip on himself.<p>

_Why would Veronica be with Logan at three o'clock in the morning? Why was she answering his phone? Were they sleeping together?_

"Arghh!" Duncan yelled, kicking the side of the building for the fifth time.

"Duncan, dude! You're going to burst a blood vessel if you don't chill the fuck out." Troy called out from where he and Luke were waiting.

"How are you so calm, man? Your dad's car was stolen!" Luke asked Troy.

"I'm resigned to my fate. They're sending me to boarding school when they get back anyway, so what do I care? I'm more concerned about Duncan; seriously man, why are you so worked up? It isn't even your car." Troy asked Duncan, confusion etched on his face.

Duncan turned to glare at Troy and Luke, "Veronica answered Logan's phone." He said, and then he kicked the building again.

* * *

><p>"Logan, is that Duncan?" Logan heard Veronica ask. He tried to pull himself out of sleep, but his mind was resisting. He felt her gently shake his arm to wake him up.<p>

"Wha…?" He groggily responded, blinking his eyes. He turned the direction she was looking. "Is that Duncan?" He said alarmed.

"I think so." Veronica said, pulling to a stop a few yards away from where Duncan was getting violent with the wall.

"Duncan! What are you doing?!" Logan shouted out his window as it rolled down.

The door behind Veronica opened suddenly, startling him. "Hey, Veronica. Logan." Luke said as he climbed into the back of the Xterra. "Duncan's been like that since he talked to you guys earlier."

"Luke? Duncan didn't mention you were with…" Logan trailed off as Troy climbed in after Luke.

Logan glared at Troy who looked about as pleased to see Logan, as Logan was to see him. Troy's expression changed to vaguely amused as he turned to look at Veronica. Logan fumed.

"So DK went to TJ with you, huh? Lemme guess, you told Duncan some version of Friday night's events?" The edge in Logan's voice could have cut glass.

"Well if by 'version' you mean told him what I saw, then yeah, I did." Troy smirked at Logan and then leaned around to look at Veronica. "Found yourself another rich dude, eh, Mars?" His eyes sparkled with delight at his taunt.

"You can get the fuck out of my truck." Logan sneered.

Veronica reached across and placed her hand on Logan's forearm. "It's okay, I don't care what he thinks. But one of us needs to go get Duncan and I'm pretty sure he's not going to want it to be me." She said in a low voice.

Logan nodded and gingerly let himself out of the truck.

"Duncan? What are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself if you keep kicking that wall." Logan tried to keep his tone light.

"What is going on with you and Veronica?" Duncan turned to stare at Logan, his features twisted with anger, fists clinched at his side.

"Going on? Ronnie and I are trying to be friends again. Is that not okay with you?" Logan was truly taken aback by Duncan's intensely emotional response. It hadn't been since before Lilly's death that he had seen much of any reaction from his best friend. Admittedly, in the last two days he had seen several small signs of life from Duncan, but nothing like this. _What could be igniting this massive change_, he thought.

"Veronica hates being called Ronnie!" Duncan yelled, kicking the wall again.

"Wow man, I know she doesn't like it. You don't need to kick that wall over it though." Logan held his hands out in surrender, trying to calm Duncan down.

"Then why do it?" Duncan's voice had taken on a pleading tone that made Logan think he isn't only talking about bad nicknames.

"She was one of my best friends. I've missed her. Don't you miss her DK?" Logan asked, trying to find the root of what was going on with Duncan. But Duncan dismissively turned away and headed for the truck. Logan followed, unsure of what had just happened.

Duncan approached the front seat but Logan didn't think Veronica would want to sit next to Duncan for the long trip home. Logan placed his hand on Duncan's shoulder only to have it shoved off as Duncan whipped around.

"What now?!" Duncan shouted.

"Take the back." Logan told him, shaking his head and offering no alternative. Logan shouldered himself in front of Duncan and got into the front seat. At Veronica's concerned look he mouthed "_Later"._

Logan remained quiet for the drive back to Neptune, not wanting to potentially start a fight with Duncan. They'd had little sleep, and he wasn't certain what was going on. Drifting in and out of a restless sleep seemed the safer option. On top of all the drama, he was really starting to hurt again.

* * *

><p>Veronica watched as Logan stiffly approached Duncan who was ranting outside the diner. She didn't think Duncan would hurt him, but Logan couldn't deal with anything other than sparing of the verbal variety in his current condition.<p>

"So, you and Logan, huh?" Luke asked from the backseat.

"She moves fast man; gotta stay true to that reputation." Troy snickered.

_What was I thinking going out with that asshole? _ "Sorry to disappoint but Logan and I are just friends. Thanks for that, by the way, Troy. I don't think we would have put aside our differences if you hadn't pulled your little clothing theft." She smiled back at him sweetly. "And unless you want to find out if Logan's reputation for hitting first and asking questions later is true, I suggest you keep your mouth shut on the ride back to Neptune."

While Veronica would never admit it out loud, she _was_ actually a little grateful to Troy for his actions. If Troy hadn't been a complete douchebag, Veronica never would have discovered what Aaron was doing to Logan.

Trauma may not be the best foundation for renewing her friendship with Logan, but she hoped it might be enough to at least dissolve their war. The truce they had established over the past two days felt tenuous. While she wasn't about to sit idly by and let anyone be abused—let alone someone she used to consider a friend—the hurt of the past year couldn't be erased. If Lilly's death had had taught Veronica anything, it was that she couldn't predict how others would behave in the face of a crisis. Even though he had recently come to her aid, it would take a lot more than a skinny dip and a sleepover for Logan to earn back her trust. The fact remained that when the going got tough, Logan had turned on her. _Guess we'll see on Monday…_

A movement outside the car caught her attention and she turned to see Duncan walking awkwardly toward the car with Logan slowly trailing behind him. Duncan approached the front passenger door and was getting ready to open it when Veronica saw Logan place his hand on Duncan's shoulder. Duncan's eyes narrowed in anger as he whipped around. She could see Logan shaking his head and indicating the backseat.

"I can't believe Logan is letting you drive the beast." Luke said nervously, redirecting Veronica's attention.

"Um… yeah." She looked back at Logan and Duncan. "He was drinking earlier… so we thought it would be better if I drove," she lied. "I found him passed out earlier next to a bottle of Jack. Unluckily for him, his bedside table caught his fall." She fabricated quickly to explain his bruised face. None of them would be suspicious of Logan drinking, and she certainly couldn't tell them the real reason he couldn't drive.

Both doors opened; Duncan climbed into the backseat and Logan into the front. Veronica quickly looked away from the glare Duncan gave her. She looked to Logan for guidance, but he only shook his head. "_Later" _he mouthed, motioning for her to start driving.

An hour of awkward and stilted conversation later, Veronica pulled up to the Kane estate.

"Logan, a word." Duncan said as he exited the truck, slamming the door behind him.

Veronica watched as a tired and resigned Logan slowly climbed out of the seat next to her. She heard the door behind her open and assumed the other two boys has also gotten out of the truck, so she was surprised when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Veronica?" Luke said hesitantly.

"What can I do for you Luke?" She asked stifling a yawn.

"There is a bit more to all of this than just the car being stolen…" Luke let the sentence drop.

"All right, let's hear it." She waved her hand for him to continue.

* * *

><p>"Logan, a word." Duncan said as he exited the truck, slamming the door behind him.<p>

_Great, just great…_ Logan was so done with this night. Or was it already morning? _Whatever_, he thought to himself. Logan followed Duncan up to the front door, moving even more slowly than earlier. _I really need to get some sleep_.

"Tell me right now, are you fucking Veronica?" Duncan whispered harshly.

_What? _Logan couldn't believe it. Not that he hadn't ever thought about Veronica that way; she'd had a place in his rotation even when they were enemies. _Maybe especially while we were enemies_. But it was Veronica, she was his best friend, turned enemy, turned…whatever they were now. He was so caught off guard by Duncan's question that he didn't answer for a moment. He knew he must have looked like a fool, standing there with his mouth hanging open.

"I… no… God, dude. No, I'm not _fucking _Veronica. She and I are trying to be friends again." He was completely taken by surprise at Duncan's rage. He'd expected some choice words from Duncan about him and Veronica trying to reestablish their friendship. Certainly something had gone very wrong between Veronica and Duncan, and that was before her father had mishandled Lilly's murder. But this… _Is Duncan jealous?_

"You call skinny dipping and being asleep together at three in the morning being just friends?" Duncan asked, incredulous.

"The skinny dipping was not planned and would have been a lot less questionable if that asshole you call a friend, _Troy,_ hadn't taken off with her clothes. Nothing happened… What do you take me for DK?" Duncan quirked his brow at Logan. "Fine, maybe I would do it, but do you really think that of Veronica? After a year of being a complete asshole to her, now she'd let me fuck her… _really_? If you think that, you don't know her at all!" Logan could feel his anger pushing through his exhaustion.

"You're the one always calling her a slut…" Duncan threw back at him.

"You know I made all that shit up." Logan sighed, his guilt overriding the blissful anger.

"Do I? Maybe not. What were you doing with her at three in the morning, Logan? She answered your phone. You both clearly hadn't been awake. Just having a slumber party? Braiding each other's hair?" Duncan still looked furious.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but since when do you care about… well, anything? You've hardly spoken to her in a year. I told you we're just friends—well, trying to be at least—and you're completely freaking out. Yesterday you couldn't have cared less when I mentioned her to you." Shaking his head, Logan thought back to their conversation at the beach. Duncan had barely batted an eye at Logan's questions about Veronica's welfare.

"Fuck you, Logan! She's… She's…" Duncan sputtered.

"She's what Duncan? What is she?" Logan snapped at his friend shaking his head. "She's my friend; I can't believe I forgot that for so long." Leaning in close, Logan said much more quietly, "She's not your girlfriend anymore Duncan, you need to get it together." Not waiting for a response, Logan turned on his heel a little quicker than he meant to and grimaced through the pain in his back as he made his way to the truck.

Logan settled into the passenger's seat and fastened his seatbelt. "Let's get out of here." He sighed. Logan knew that he was exhausted from lack of sleep and all that he had gone through the day before, but he'd never expected to feel so drained from two discussions with his best friend. He wasn't even sure that his two exchanges with Duncan's could be considered discussions. He groaned loudly and stared out the window as Veronica drove.

"What's going on with Duncan?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Honestly?" Logan rubbed his face with both palms, letting his fingers drag his mouth open as he yawned.

"Preferably, unless you can make up something more entertaining than reality. You know how I like to be amused." Veronica joked.

"I really have no clue what that_ display _back there was all about." He gestured dramatically. "Troy told him about us skinny dipping and he was pretty upset about you answering my phone in the middle of the night. But when I tried to explain he wasn't exactly receptive. I think he just has the wrong idea. I'll try to talk to him again tomorrow when he's had a little time to calm down. He hasn't shown this much emotion since Lilly died. I'm just not sure what's going on." He yawned again and leaned his head back against the window. "Can we just go back and get some more sleep? And I need some more ibuprofen, my back is killing me."

"Yeah, I think more sleep would be good." She smiled at him.

Logan watched as Veronica carefully navigated her way back to her apartment. She braked slowly and accelerated smoothly, both of which he was grateful for. The discomfort that started as a dull ache on the drive back to Neptune was now full-blown pain.

When they arrived back at Sunset Cliffs, Logan carefully made his way into her apartment. "Just toss me another blanket and I'll be good to go." He called to Veronica who was headed to her room.

She came back into the living room, dressed in her pajamas from earlier, holding a pillow and blanket. "Logan, I want you to take my bed. It's more comfortable than the couch and with how much you must hurt…" her words trailed off.

"I'll sleep in your bed if you sleep with me." He tried to leer at her but they were both too tired for the innuendo to hit home. Veronica snorted and shook her head, setting the bedding and a bottle of painkillers on the end of the couch before walking back to her bedroom. Once he heard her door shut, he stripped down to his boxers and pulled on his previously discarded flannel bottoms. He dry swallowed a few pills as he sank into the old couch. It wasn't as comfortable as his bed, and probably not as comfortable as Veronica's, but he didn't feel right taking her bed. And he hadn't pushed the issue of them sharing because, unlike his bed at home, Veronica's bed really wasn't big enough for them both. He laid his head on the pillow and immediately was enveloped in her scent. _What is that? Like marshmallows and… maybe flowers? _He buried his face in it and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>A few hours and some much needed sleep later, Veronica woke up feeling somewhat refreshed. She didn't feel much better about her current situation, but with uninterrupted sleep she had gained some perspective. Her and Logan's middle of the night run to the border hadn't gone anywhere close to the way she had expected. Though, if she thought about it, nothing in the last few days had. <em>Maybe I should just throw in the towel and embrace what comes at me, <em>she thought fleetingly. _Yeah right! _ She snorted to herself, climbing out of bed.

Veronica quietly opened her door and tiptoed down the hall to check on Logan. He was still asleep on the couch with Backup curled against his chest. _Logan Echolls is spooning my dog; now I've seen it all._ Neither looked like they could possibly be comfortable, but Logan's face was relaxed and peaceful.

Trying her best not to wake them, she headed into the kitchen and set about making coffee. Logan hadn't told her much about his confrontations with Duncan, but neither discussion seemed to have ended well. Both parties had been yelling, and Duncan had left looking so angry. She had never seen him look like that before.

"Good morning." Logan's voice, deep with sleep, called out from the living room.

"Afternoon actually." She turned and smiled at him. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks. So what's the plan for today, Mars?" He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one hand and shifting Backup with the other.

"I thought we'd have this coffee here, maybe something to eat… I have a study date with Wallace later and some filing to catch up on at the office. You're welcome to stay here while I'm gone." She hoped he would. Veronica wasn't thrilled at the prospect of, yet again, explaining Logan's presence to Wallace. Though Veronica was surprised to find that, after a few hours of sleep, she wasn't particularly angry with Logan for asking about Shelly's party the night before. _Something to think on later…_

"I think I'll tag along. I have some studying of my own to do." Logan lifted himself off the couch and headed for the bathroom.

He was still moving stiffly, but Veronica thought he looked a little bit better this morning. The coffee was ready, so she pulled down two mugs and added cream and sugar. _I hope he still takes his coffee the same way_, she thought idly, avoiding thinking about how she was going to deal with Wallace.

* * *

><p>"Wanna learn how to make bacon?" Veronica asked as Logan came back into the kitchenliving room.

"What makes you think I don't already know how to make bacon?" Logan asked with a smirk. Of course he had no idea how to make bacon…

"I figure if you still can't make a grilled cheese, then you probably don't know how to make bacon. Or pancakes? Waffles maybe?" She laughed.

It was good to see her seeming relaxed and joking. He really wasn't sure how today would be. On top of their 'fight,' if one could call it that, over Shelly's party, they'd had to deal with Duncan. He was not looking forward to explaining that the reason Duncan was so upset was because he thought they were sleeping together._ I'm going to have to tell her, that should be fun._

"Teach me Mars Wan Chefnobi. Teach me the ways of the little people who don't have personal chefs." Logan winked at her, hoping she would remember how much he hated the food his parents' chef made.

"He still doesn't make anything pronounceable, huh?" Veronica grinned at him.

"Nope, can't remember the last time I ate something at home that I recognized as food. So bacon and… I'm thinking pancakes. Think you can teach this child-of-movie-stars to actually do something domestic?"

Veronica's laughter was contagious and pretty soon they were both laughing so hard that tears were running down their cheeks. _I don't think I've laughed as much in the past year as I have in the last three days, even with an Aaron encounter._

"I'm not sure I'm up for the challenge, but I'll die trying if it comes to that." She said in mock seriousness.

"It may come to that. One time I tried to make one of your grilled cheeses. The fire department may have been called." His whole body shuddered at the memory. He'd meant it to be funny but he could tell she knew better. _Shit._

"When?" Veronica asked, all humor gone.

"A few months after the first time you made them for us."

"The time you told us you were going to see your mom in that off-Broadway play or when you had the flu?" She was too smart for her own good.

"The off-Broadway play, the flu was for something else…"

**FLASHBACK**

Logan sat alone in his room doing what he did most nights when Lilly wasn't around, playing video games. His girlfriend claimed to be busy studying with Veronica. They'd only been together a couple of months, but Logan had already caught her in more than a few lies about where she was and whom she was with. He tried not to let it bother him, but it did.

He tossed the controller down in frustration. _I'm such an idiot._ He started rummaging around under his bed to find the bottle of whiskey he kept hidden there. His hand had just felt the neck of the bottle when his phone started to the play the London Bach Choir singing _"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need."_ In his surprise, he'd smacked his head on the frame of the bed.

"Aaww, hold on, hold on, I'm coming." He said to no one.

He stared at the caller ID, _Deputy Ronnie_.

"Hello?" Logan said, a bit surprised and confused since she was supposedly busy 'studying' with Lilly.

"Logan… um… can I come over?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, and he could hear yelling in the background.

"Ronnie what's wrong? Where are you? Where's Lilly?" He fought the urge to whisper back.

"They're fighting again, but this time it's different…" Veronica choked on the last word.

"It's okay, I'm on my way. Can you meet me out front?"

He heard her hiccup before she replied, "Yeah."

"I'll be there soon." He told her, ending the call.

His parents were in LA for the next few days so he figured he'd just swipe the keys to the extra car they kept for Trina when she visited. He'd driven more than a few times and, despite only being thirteen—_almost fourteen_, he thought excitedly—he was sure he could get to Veronica's and back without a problem.

Veronica was sitting on the steps of her front porch when he arrived, her arms wrapped around her knees. When Logan pulled up in front of the driveway, she quickly scooped up her bag and ran to the car.

"Thank you." Veronica breathed as she wrapped her arms around his neck across the center console.

"Anything for you, Ronnie." Logan hugged her back and then gently shifted her back into her seat so he could resume driving. He got a good look at her before he started pulling out. She had tear tracks on her cheeks and her nose and eyes were red and puffy.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened?" Logan asked.

She took a deep breath, "We were eating dinner, dad and me. Mom came home… drunk, again. She had a bunch of groceries and started yelling at dad for making dinner when she had just picked up everything to cook." She sighed and wiped at her eyes. "So dad tried to get her to calm down and it just…" She shook her head and looked out the window.

"It's okay, I get it." Logan had seen Lianne Mars in one of those moods and he had plenty of experience with similar situations involving his own mother. "But where was Lilly? Why didn't you leave with her?" He asked, even though he suspected he already knew the answer.

"Lilly? Lilly wasn't as my house. Isn't she with you? I expected her to be with you when you picked me up." Veronica sniffled, but her words were getting steadier.

Logan sighed, "She told me she was studying with you tonight."

"Oh… maybe you misunderstood?" Veronica tried to soften what they both knew. Lilly had lied to both of them about her plans for that night.

"I think maybe we both did, huh?"

Veronica nodded, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Let's get back to my place and make some popcorn and stay up late watching movies. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it does. Thank you. Hey, you shouldn't be driving!" She smacked him on the arm.

"What, I'm driving? I thought you were driving?" He flashed her a grin.

They made it safely back to Logan's house and had their movie night, both falling asleep on the big sofa. They were woken up the next morning by Logan's cell phone playing Nelly's _Hot in Herre,_ Lilly's ringtone.

"Hey Lover! Are you awake yet?" Lilly purred over the phone.

"I am now Lil'. Did you have fun studying with Ronnie last night?" Logan asked, watching Veronica blink sleepy eyes at him. He quickly put his finger to her lips when she opened her mouth to speak.

"We had a blast hittin' the old books! So are you free? Let's go do _something._"

"Sorry Lil' I'm kinda busy, I'll call you later." Logan ended the call before she could respond.

Logan scooted toward Veronica, who had lain back down on the couch, and put his head on her shoulder. "She said she was with you last night…"

"I heard." She said, rubbing her hand up and down his arm that was thrown across her waist. "I'm sorry Logan. I know she cares about you…"

"Yeah, she really cares about me. Cares about both of us. How many times did you call her before you called me last night, Ronnie?" He looked up at her.

"Five."

"Do you have to go home or can we just watch movies all day? Maybe eat nothing but dessert?" Logan asked, sitting back up.

"Movies and dessert? I'm in!"

A week later a ticket arrived in the mail showing Logan driving through a red light in the 90905…

**END FLASHBACK**

Logan shook himself out of the memory. He didn't want Veronica to know about the punishment he had gotten for driving to get her. He didn't regret it. Never had. That had also been the first time he and Lilly broke up. Ironically, Lilly had broken up with him because she thought he was ditching her for another girl. But Logan was pretty sure the night and day he spent with Veronica was a lot more innocent than whatever—whoever—Lilly had been doing.

"Okay Mars, back to the cooking lesson. What have you got going on here?" Logan pointed to the pan with the bacon in it.

"That's bacon and this is a frying pan. Together they create tasty-deliciousness."

* * *

><p>AN2: So we got to see Logan's ringtone for Veronica 1.0 but you'll have to wait a little longer to find out his current ringtone for her…


	7. Your Shadow Weighs A Ton

A/N: As always huge thanks go out to my betas Bondopolous and BryroseA! This chapter will wrap up the weekend and then it's back to school…

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7 - Your Shadow Weighs A Ton<strong>

* * *

><p>Wallace was walking up the stairs to Mars Investigations when he heard an unexpected voice. <em>Did V invite someone else to our study session?<em> Last week they had made plans to get some serious cramming in today for their AP History exam. But she hadn't mentioned anyone meeting them.

Wallace pushed the door open to find Veronica laughing with… _Logan?_

"Hey Wallace, you made it. I hope you don't mind if Logan joins us; he has to take the same test." She had stopped laughing and was chewing on her lower lip. Wallace knew it was one of her nervous habits.

"Yeah, of course. How's it goin' man?" Wallace reached his hand out to Logan. Logan looked surprised, but accepted Wallace's hand. Logan shook his hand firmly, but not jackass aggressively like Wallace was expecting.

"Better than last time you saw me. I was kinda drunk and may have been rude." Logan smirked at Wallace.

"Uh hun, you were both of those things. And today?" Wallace looked at him skeptically. Richie rich had more of a reputation for being a giant asshole than for studying.

"Today, my good Wallace, I am going for amusing," Logan turned to wink at Veronica, "and academic."

Wallace watched as Veronica's serious expression shifted back to laughter. Apparently, the jackass was succeeding in at least one of his goals for the day; Veronica definitely looked amused.

Wallace tossed his bag on the floor at the end of the couch. Veronica had stacks of flashcards all over the coffee table and a textbook was open facing Logan. A few cartons of take-out were scattered around the office. They looked comfortable with each other and clearly had been there a while.

"Hey V, can we talk for a sec? In your dad's office." He jerked his thumb toward the office.

"Of course. Excuse us Logan." Wallace saw Veronica give Logan an apologetic smile as he headed into Mr. Mars' office.

After the door shut, Wallace turned to look at Veronica. "What happened to staying away from him? Did you see his face? All bruised from what? Fighting? And the guy is psychotic! He used a crowbar to bash in your headlights." Wallace tried to keep his voice down as he gestured toward the outer room.

"I said I'd take it under advisement, and I did. It's complicated. I can't really talk about it, but I promise you everything is fine. Logan has mostly been on his best behavior." Veronica had already turned, heading back into the other room.

"I just don't get it." _How can she stand to be around this guy after everything he's done?_ Wallace shook his head and began to follow her to the door when Veronica turned back around.

"I know you don't and there is nothing I can tell you that will change that. Give him a chance or don't. But for today he's our study buddy." She shrugged, opened the door, and headed back to the couch.

Wallace hesitated in the office long enough to hear Logan whisper, _"Veronica, should I go? I don't want to cause a problem."_ Wallace didn't wait to hear Veronica's response. He decided that he was being rude, and while rude may be the norm for the Logan Echollses of the world, it was not Wallace's way.

"All right Echolls, I guess we're cool until V says otherwise." Wallace sat on the couch next to Veronica and reached for a pile of flashcards. "Let's kill this test."

An hour later, Wallace was feeling overwhelmed by all the information he'd reviewed. He was grateful when Veronica's phone started to ring.

"It's my dad." She held up the phone and headed for her dad's office, shutting the door behind her.

"Can I ask you something?" Logan asked. He'd turned very serious in the few seconds since Veronica had left the room.

Wallace nodded, "What's on your mind?" Wallace watched as Logan pulled his shirtsleeves down over his hands and waited for him to speak again.

"Friday night, you said something about Veronica having been hurt." Logan looked up from his lap. Wallace nodded at the clearly distressed 09er sitting across from him. "Do you know what happened?" Logan said in a voice so soft and small that Wallace almost couldn't hear him.

"Naw, man. She's just said some things that made me think, you know… Why don't you ask her?" Wallace shook his head, thinking about the party flyer and the resulting conversation.

"I did…" Logan looked back at his lap.

Wallace snorted. _Bet that went really well. _Out loud he said, "And what did she say?"

"What do you think? She shut me down; said she had no idea what I was talking about." Logan sighed.

Wallace nodded, "Kinda assumed you were part of whatever happened to her, to be honest."

"I can see why you'd think that." Logan frowned and then turned pleading eyes to Wallace. "Look I know you have absolutely no reason to believe or trust me, but… God she is going to kill me. But later, when I asked again, Veronica got really upset and said something about not remembering anything after having a drink at a party last year. People had GHB at that party and I know that she woke up there the next morning. I know something happened but she won't say what, though I can guess…" Logan paled and shifted in his chair. "When I pushed her about it she had a... um, like a panic attack. It was the second time I've seen her do that in the past few days."

Wallace was shocked. He'd had a pretty strong sense that something bad had happened to Veronica, but she had never confided any details to him beyond generic warnings. The rest of what Logan said started to hit him.

"Panic attacks? You saw her have not one, but two? What did you do?" Wallace sneered harshly.

"Well, the first time…" Logan was back to pulling down his sleeves and twisting them around. "My dad…" Logan's voice cracked. "Look, it's complicated, but no one hurt her and she was fine after a few minutes. The second time, like I said, was when I tried to get her to tell me what happened to her. I'm surprised that, after everything I just told you, the panic attack is what you're most upset about." Logan's mouth rose slightly on one side as his eyes rolled up to meet Wallace's.

"Give me a minute; I'm getting there." Wallace took a deep breath and looked at the door of Mr. Mars' office. He could hear Veronica talking and moving around in the office. Assured that she wasn't wrapping up her conversation, he turned back to Logan. "You said you _know_ she woke up there, not that she said she did… And you know people had GHB at that party?" Logan nodded in confirmation, his eyes glassy and intense.

"You know these things because you were there." It wasn't a question.

Logan nodded again, "I remember her acting weird that night. But I may have been um… preoccupied with my own issues. I asked around and found out that she was seen leaving the next morning. They said… well, that she was a mess. I don't know what to do. I don't want to upset her again but if someone... I want to try to make it right."

Wallace stared at Logan, really looking at him for the first time. This guy wasn't the cruel ringleader of the 09ers who he'd seen at school. He looked beyond miserable and sincerely distressed about what might have happened to someone he wasn't even friends with anymore. _Maybe the seventh grader Veronica described as her best friend is still in there after all. _

"You're right, I have no reason to trust you, but for some reason it seems like Veronica has decided to let you back in her life. And either you are a much better actor than either of your parents or you're worried about my girl, too." Wallace stood up and awkwardly patted Logan on the shoulder. "I get the feeling there is more to this than you're telling me, and we're not done talking about this. Not by a long shot. But I'm not going to say anything to V. For now."

Logan looked relieved and resigned. "All right, thank you. Really, _thank you_."

"Now get your shit together, we have one more thing to talk about." Wallace smiled tightly.

"We do?" Logan raised his eyebrows.

"What are we going to do to Troy?"

Logan smiled, "I'm sure between the two of us we can come up with something."

* * *

><p>"Dad, you really don't need to worry. I'm fine for one more night. Get the bad guy and I'll hold the fort." Veronica told her father confidently. "I'd better get back out there. Wallace needs all the help he can get."<p>

"Okay honey. Be good and don't just eat ice cream." Keith told her.

"No promises. Love you, dad."

"Love you, too, kid." And the call disconnected.

"Alright boys, are you both still alive?" Veronica walked back out to the outer room of the office to find Logan and Wallace sitting quietly, each holding a stack of flashcards. "Who are you and what have you done with Wallace and Logan?" She asked, disturbed to find them working in companionable silence.

"What? You know I'm capable of being civil." Logan smirked at her, but his eyes lacked their usual mischievous glint.

Wallace leaned back against the couch. "I am as much of a marshmallow as you are, Mars. And your boy here needs more help than I do." Veronica quirked an eyebrow as they shared a look. _They're up to something._

"Okay, you two are freaking me out." Veronica shook her head as she moved to join Wallace on the couch. "In other news, I have a case." This was directed at Wallace, but then she observed Logan with interest. "Hmm… but I think you could be a valuable asset."

"Setting a honey trap?" Logan asked her with mock seriousness and a wink.

"Actually…" She spent the next ten minutes filling them in on all that Luke had shared with her. His debt to Zigman, the trip to TJ, the drugs in the piñata.

"He claims Duncan and Troy had no idea what he was up to. Logan, he said you were originally supposed to go on that trip…" she let the sentence hang.

"Yeah, I was. Two things before you ask: one – I did know that Luke was picking up illegal stuff in Mexico, and two – I had no idea when Duncan called us to get him that he was with them." Veronica watched as Logan tugged at his sleeves but maintained eye contact; she was pretty sure she believed him.

She nodded, "I want to start by seeing if we can find Troy's dad's car. It has a security system but we can't have it activated without filing a police report. Let's see what we can dig up in the mean time."

Wallace headed for the computer on Veronica's desk while she pulled out her laptop.

"What can I do?" Logan asked, moving to sit on the couch next to Veronica.

"How are you at filing, sweet cheeks?" She asked, playfully slapping his unbruised cheek.

"Who am I, William Powell?" Logan asked, offended.

"Ha! You wish. He played the detective. If anyone's Nick, it's me; you, doll face, are Nora." Veronica quipped at him and he batted his eyelashes at her.

"Who does that make me?" Wallace asked.

Veronica and Logan shared a look. "Shaggy." They said in unison.

"You two are so weird together." Wallace shook his head. "And speaking of together, don't think I missed that you two had a little sleepover… again."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Logan and Veronica made their way back to the apartment. Logan knew that Keith wasn't expected back until late the next day, but he was worried about his own homecoming. Even if he put it off until Monday, it wasn't going to be pleasant. Logan had just locked the door behind them when his cell phone chirped.<p>

**From Asshole to Logan Echolls, 7:14pm**

Heading to LA tonight, mother back tomorrow afternoon

**From Logan Echolls to Asshole, 7:15pm**

Still working on project, home tomorrow

Logan sighed with relief. Aaron was headed to LA and he would probably stay for at least a couple of days.

"Good news?" Veronica asked him.

"Yeah, you could say that. Aaron is headed to LA." He tried to be enthusiastic but just couldn't summon it.

"Oh, of course. Um… If you want I can just pack up the extra food for you to take home with you. I'm sure you want to sleep in your own bed…" She sounded disappointed. _Is she disappointed?_

"Actually, he didn't say when he was leaving, and to be honest I don't want to risk it. If it's okay, I would rather just stay with you again tonight. And I'm still not feeling great about driving; I was hoping you would drive me to school in the morning." He kept his eyes down, not wanting to reveal how much he wanted to spend more time with her.

"If you don't want to risk it…" Veronica smiled shyly. "Besides dinner, what do you want to do? We finished studying."

"Can we take Backup down to the beach? I'd kinda like to stretch out and walk around a bit."

"That actually sounds really good."

* * *

><p>Logan and Veronica put their gyros and salad in the fridge to eat after their walk on the beach. If Veronica was honest with herself, she was feeling pretty nervous. She had a lot on her mind that she wanted to discuss with him, but she wasn't sure how to broach the subject.<p>

"Logan?"

"Veronica?"

"Um… I want to ask you something but I don't want…" Veronica looked out at the surf trying to find the right words. "Have you ever thought about turning him in?" She blurted it out before she could stop herself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry—it's none of my business." She flopped down onto the cold sand.

"It's okay. I've never really talked about this with anyone." Logan took a deep breath and sat down next to her. "Turning him in? No, I've seen him pay people off, so no I never really considered that. It's only eighteen more months. You saw a bad day, but this isn't really an everyday thing."

"Logan, come on! You said earlier that this time wasn't that bad. All of those times you were 'sick' or taking 'special trips' - I may have been blind but I'm not stupid. How many of those were actually because you were too hurt to come to school?" She stared into his eyes, her mouth drawn into a tight line across her face.

"I'm very healthy and not particularly fond of visiting either of my parents on set," was all he said. But it was enough; it only confirmed what Veronica had suspected. Aaron Echolls was beating Logan on a regular basis, and badly enough that he'd missed school at least once a month for almost as long as she had known him.

"I want to do something." She said softly.

"Ronnie…" Logan sighed, "What is there to do? I can't leave until I'm eighteen. Even then, I don't have access to the first tier my trust until I 'complete high school'." He emphasized with quote fingers. "I wouldn't have any way to support myself other than bumming off people. Not to mention that my trust isn't irrevocable; Aaron can change the terms at any time. I can deal until then."

"What if I could give you some options? Options that wouldn't mean having to live like the rest of us?" She smirked at him.

"I'd listen. But seriously, it isn't a death sentence…"

She hoped he was right. "Okay, I'm getting hungry and I think Backup is done running around. Let's head back."

When Logan stood up, he reached for Veronica, and she could see the strain in his face. He was feeling better, but the cuts and bruises were still hindering his movement. She was determined to find options to get him away from Aaron. She couldn't imagine leaving him to this for eighteen more months even if he had been dealing with it for almost that many years.

They made their way back to the apartment mostly in silence, Veronica's mind spinning with possible ways to help Logan. She unlocked the door and let Logan and Backup in before her, so lost in thought that she jumped at the sound of Logan's voice.

"Veronica, the answering machine-thingy is blinking." Logan pointed out as he headed for the refrigerator to retrieve their dinner.

Veronica pushed the play button, "_Hi, Keith, it's me. I might be a little late to dinner since I came into work—Oh, wait a minute. Um, I'm sorry. I'm just going to call your cell."_

"Who was that? Her voice was familiar." Logan said. Veronica fiddled with the phone and put her finger to her lips, shushing him.

"_Hi, you've reached Rebecca James in the Counseling Office at Neptune High School. I'm away-" _Veronica cut off the call.

"It was Ms. James."

"As in 'Student Counselor' Becky?" Logan looked incredulous; "Your dad has a date with Becky?"

Veronica just shook her head and dialed a number into the phone. "Dad, when you get this you need to call your date for tonight and let her know you're still out of town. Love you." And she ended the call.

Without comment, Logan passed her a gyro and the bowl of extra tomatoes they had ordered.

* * *

><p>Logan watched Veronica while they ate. She seemed subdued in a way that didn't align with the ferocity he had seen in her eyes when she asked what he wanted to do about Aaron. As far as he knew, Keith Mars was still married to Veronica's mother, waste of space though she might be. <em>Is this the first time she's heard of him dating?<em>

"Veronica?" She looked up at him a little dazed. "Did you know your dad was dating?"

"Hmmm… um… No, this is the first I'm hearing of it. But mom, Lianne, she's been gone – a while now." Veronica stabbed an olive on her plate.

Logan thought about the last time he knew for sure that Mrs. Mars had been around. _Had to be around the time they moved into this place._

"But it makes sense I guess. Before he left for this trip, my dad pulled out a box of her things for me to go through." Veronica abandoned her fork and walked to her room. A few minutes later she emerged with a filing box. "He wanted me to pick out anything I wanted to keep."

Logan watched her set the box on the counter and stoically began to pull things out: a framed picture, a small envelope, and some other items. _What kind of mother leaves when her daughter's best friend has been murdered?_ Even his, habitually absent, mother had been there more for him than Lianne Mars had been for Veronica. The guilt over how he had treated her overwhelmed him again. _Her best friend died, her father lost his job, her mother left, and we were terrible to her…_

"Hey, look at this, a safe deposit box key?" Veronica held a brass key up to Logan.

"Does it say which bank?" He asked her.

"Neptune National, that's downtown." Veronica told him, looking at the small envelope the key had been inside.

"What do you want to do?" Logan didn't know anything about how safe deposit boxes worked, but he assumed that the person who rented the box would need to be present to open it.

"I can make a death certificate and get them to let me open it." Her eyes had that shine in them he had come to recognize as 'Veronica on a case.' It was hot, but also a little scary.

"Really? You can do that?" He didn't doubt her ability, but was still surprised.

"Piece of cake." She smiled. "Ooo, cake. Did you order any dessert?"

"You haven't finished your dinner and you're already thinking about dessert?" He laughed.

"Have you met me? Of course I'm thinking about dessert. But seriously… you ordered dessert, right?" Veronica's brow furrowed and she glared at him.

"Hmmm… I dunno. Will loukoumades work?" He smiled, holding up another container.

"Um…fried dough with cinnamon and honey?" She asked, grabbing the box. "Yeah, I think I can work with that, but there's only eight in here. What are you going to have?" She maintained her glare until Logan presented a second container with a big grin.

Full and a little tired, Logan moved to the couch to watch some TV and relax. He watched Veronica flip through the channels while he thought about what he wanted to do next. Tomorrow he could go back home and not have to worry about Aaron for a few days. But when it really came down to it, Aaron wasn't the biggest bad on his list of problems for tomorrow. School was going to be interesting.

So much had changed in the last three days that Logan felt like his head was still spinning. He and Veronica were rebuilding their friendship, she knew his darkest secret, and he was pretty sure he knew a big one of hers. But how would they handle everyone?

"About tomorrow…" Logan tried to find the words but found he didn't quite know what to say.

"Tomorrow, yes? Are we going to go back to the _status quo?"_ Logan could hear the disappointment in Veronica's voice.

"Only if that's what you want. As far as I'm concerned, _fuck em_." He smiled, hoping that she felt the same way.

"_Fuck em_, hmmm… sounds apropos considering what you've been saying about me for the last year." Much to his relief, she winked at him. Then the good humor in her expression slid a bit, "It's been different, um… nice? _This_," Veronica waved her hand between them, "I don't want to go back."

"Good, me neither. I do want to warn you though, I'm pretty sure Troy has been telling people a rather exaggerated version of Friday night. And he knows we were together on Saturday night, too." He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his gaze to the floor. "And there's Duncan… I didn't tell you before but he accused me of sleeping with you, though he used more _colorful_ language. That was part of what he was so upset about." Logan pushed his fingers through his hair drawing his eyes back up to meet Veronica's. "I denied it, of course, and told Duncan that we were working on our friendship. I don't know if he believed me, but I don't think Duncan would say anything. Unfortunately, Troy overheard, and I don't think he'll keep quiet.

"Logan, even if Troy only told the truth it wouldn't matter; it all sounds pretty scandalous. Anyway with my 'reputation' it won't matter what anyone says. By the end of the day I'll have done you and half the guys at the dance. I'm used to it, but what about you?"

Logan couldn't believe she was worried about him. Veronica's reputation was completely false and entirely his fault. His, on the other hand… "Veronica, my reputation should be far worse than yours, hell I deserve worse than they even say. Believe it or not I've been a much bigger slut than I've let on. I'm just not much for bragging about my drunken misadventures. The difference is my 'promiscuity' just makes me cooler in their eyes." Logan sighed and buried his face in his hands, too embarrassed with himself to look at Veronica.

"Somehow I don't think people thinking that you hooked up with me is going to give you more street cred."

Logan couldn't take the tension in his limbs anymore and began pacing the living room. _Why should either of us have to worry about such stupid shit?_

"Veronica, I don't care. I. Just. Don't. Care. Most of those people aren't really my friends." He stopped to look directly at her, "they aren't worth caring about." Logan stared into Veronica's wide, surprised eyes for a moment before he resumed pacing. "Do you think any of them would care if they knew what my home life was really like? Think they would patch me up, smuggle me out, and stash me away? No! I've been horrible to you and you did all of that. I may be an asshole, but I'm not stupid. I screwed up, but now I know where my loyalties belong." He declared, finally sitting back down on the couch.

Veronica stared at Logan, her mouth slightly hanging open.

"What?" Logan asked her.

"Welcome back, Logan Echolls! God I've missed you." She launched herself across the couch and into his lap to hug him tightly. He only winced a little, but he was pretty sure she didn't notice.


	8. I Watched It All In My Head

A/N: This was a fun one to write (especially the beginning). Thanks to Bondopoulos & BryroseA for all the betaing this took. There is a particular bit that I was a bit nervous to write and Bry was my guinea pig – lets just say the words 'tasteful masturbation' came up… consider yourselves warned.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this far - this was supposed to be a little one-shot that has grown completely out of my control. I have it plotted out through the end of season 1, so hopefully that will put any concerns you might have about me continuing it to rest :)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 - I Watched It All In My Head, Perfect Sense<strong>

* * *

><p>Logan woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of soft humming. He let his eyes open just enough to see into the kitchen. He smiled when he saw that Veronica was moving around and humming to herself.<p>

"You're not fooling anyone. I can see that your eyes are open." Veronica picked up a mug of steaming coffee and sat on the coffee table, holding the mug under Logan's nose. It smelled heavenly, "Good morning."

"Good morning." Logan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before sitting up and accepting the mug. "What time is it?"

"6:30, do you want the first shower? And no Hollywood showers; there's only like fifteen minutes of hot water." Logan started to open his mouth, but Veronica stopped him with her hand. "No, I do not want to conserve water by showering with you. I already recycle." She grinned at him cheekily before heading back to the kitchen.

Logan couldn't help but laugh; that was exactly what he was going to say. "Come on Ronnie, what about Reduce and Reuse?" He said, taking a big sip of the coffee.

"Well, lookie here, I'm making us both lunch and putting it in one bag. Looks like I've already taken care of Reduce, sorry. Now, if you can come up with a good Reuse I'm all ears."

Logan knew she wasn't serious, but his sixteen-year-old brain couldn't resist. It quickly started providing him with all sorts of versions of Reuse, all of which involved her, of course. He decided he'd best take her up on getting the first shower. _Maybe a cold one would be better…_ He quickly headed back to the bathroom while Veronica was busy finishing their lunches. _Which is sexy, too, dammit._

Once in the bathroom Logan remembered that a few of his cuts still had bandages on them. Carefully turning to see if he could get the bandages off by himself, Logan felt a sharp tearing sensation. _Dammit, I'm going to need help._ The pain helped push back some of the urgency he'd felt earlier, but Logan wasn't sure if he could handle Veronica touching him right now. He made one more attempt to reach the edge of the closest bandage when he heard a light knock on the door.

"Logan, do you need help with the bandages?" Veronica called through the door.

Logan groaned, _kill me now, just put me out of my misery_. He reached for the door, "Yeah, I need help." Thankfully, his voice came out steadier than he actually felt.

As Veronica's small hands carefully peeled the bandages away, gently inspecting each cut, his whole body tingled and he started to feel overheated.

"Hey, are you feeling okay? You're really warm and breathing a little fast." Veronica asked, reaching up to touch his forehead with the back of her hand.

"I'm fine, j-just um…" he stuttered not knowing what to say. He needed to get her out of there before she noticed the incredibly obvious boner he was sporting. He turned his back to her, "How do they look?"

She touched his back where the worst of the cuts had been, causing him to shudder. "Better. I don't see any signs of infection…"

"Good, okay good." He cut her off and began fumbling with the shower curtain. "Alright. Well, unless you've changed your mind about joining me, I'm getting naked now." Logan turned the water on, keeping his back to Veronica. A moment later he heard the click of the door shutting.

Logan decided that a cold shower wasn't going to fix the problem as quickly as the alternative. He cranked the hot water on and started running through his list of favorite scenarios. But his mind—and other things—wouldn't cooperate. His mind kept going back to Veronica in the ocean with him, Veronica in that little bikini, Veronica wrapped in his arms. _Fuck it! _ He decided, giving in.

Ten minutes later, Logan turned off the water feeling clean and much less tense. He dressed quickly and headed back out to the living room.

"How's your back feeling? I heard noises." Veronica's eyes were soft, but she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"My back's feeling much better as long as nothing touches it and I don't move too abruptly. I don't think I need bandages anymore. Thanks." Logan smiled and ignored her second comment, hoping she would let it go. Of course, being Veronica Mars, she pushed the issue.

"And the noises?" Veronica gave him side-eye as she walked past him into the living room.

"Well, you see Veronica, when a young man awakens in the morning he often finds himself…"

"Okaaay, no I get it, but did you have to use _all_ the hot water?" Veronica called from down the hall.

Logan headed to the coffee pot to refill his mug and scoped out the cereal options. He _did_ feel kind of bad for using so much of the hot water, but it had been necessary if he was going to function at school today. Pushing the thought away, he glanced at the brown paper bag sitting out on the counter. _She made us lunch_. He peeked into the bag and saw a container of fruit salad, a couple of sandwiches, pudding cups and two bottles of water. It was beyond adorable and he couldn't wait to eat this lunch with her.

_Lunch…_

Last night was a turning point for Logan. He hadn't spent very much time during the last year evaluating the people in his life. He had been a walking disaster, cruel and horrible to pretty much everyone. Getting wasted—fucking anyone willing. _If Lilly could see me now… she'd probably be proud_. Somehow that realization didn't make him feel better.

He stretched, trying to rid himself of the negative thoughts. His whole body ached. _Another day of ibuprofen it is. _The bottle wasn't where he remembered leaving it, so he headed back to Veronica's room. Thinking she was in the bathroom, he pushed her door open and came face to face with a completely naked Veronica.

"Oh my god, get out! What are you doing?" She scrambled for the towel she had laid out on her bed.

Logan groaned, quickly closing his eyes and turning around. "I needed the ibuprofen. I'm so sorry. I'm just going to hold my hand out," he pushed his hand out behind him, "and if you could put the bottle there I'll pretend this never happened and go back to my coffee."

The bottle of pills was instantly in his hand and her hands were gently pushing him out of the room by his biceps. _Even pissed off, she remembered not to push on my back_, he thought fondly. The image of her naked didn't hurt either. _I'm going to need another shower…_

* * *

><p>Veronica grabbed her messenger bag and their lunch and set them by the door. After their second embarrassing event of the morning, Logan had escaped by taking Backup out for a walk. <em>Boys…Thank God for dry shampoo and shower caps, <em>shaking her head at the thought of Logan using up most of the hot water. She was definitely going to mention the hot water issue to her dad again.

When Logan returned with Backup, they headed out to the parking lot. "Le Baron or Xterra?" Logan asked.

"Um… I guess the Xterra; that way you can drop me off here after school. Think you'll be up for driving by the time school is out?"

"I think so. Guess we'll find out." Logan smiled, still not meeting her eyes, his cheeks a little pinker than usual.

Veronica climbed into the driver's seat while Logan put on his seat belt. "Logan, um…" her cheeks flamed red.

"Already forgotten. Let's pretend we got up, you made coffee, I took Backup for a walk, and now here we are. Okay?" Logan offered her.

"Well, I was willing to count it as the peek you said you would take at the beach, but I'm just as happy to forget it instead…" Veronica turned in the driver's seat to fully face Logan and clapped her hands together. "So what's the plan for when we get to school? Do we just act like this it's totally normal that we're arriving together and head for our lockers?" She asked.

"I think that makes sense. We'll be getting there a bit early," he said looking at the clock, "so maybe there won't be too many people there yet? Wait a second, does that mean I still have a penalty-free peek?"

_Let him think about that next time he wastes all the hot water_. She shifted back around and turned the key in the ignition. She really hoped he was right about school not being too crowded this early but, considering that it was the Monday after homecoming, the rumor mill was most likely already in full force. It was anybody's guess what they would arrive to.

A few minutes later, Veronica pulled into the Neptune High parking lot. Logan directed her to an open spot next to a silver SUV.

"Ready for this?" Logan smiled, reaching for Veronica's hand. She met him halfway and they gave each other a reassuring squeeze.

Logan climbed out first, while Veronica paused to observe her surroundings. Dick Casablancas was coming in fast at one o'clock. _If I get out quickly and head in the opposite direction…_

"Logan, man! Who's that driving the beast?" Veronica could hear Dick's booming voice through Logan's open door. _Crap, too late now. Time to face the music._ She hopped out and met Logan at the front of the truck.

"Dick Casablancas, this is Veronica Mars; Ronnie I believe you know Dick…" Logan playfully offered.

"Ronnie? Why is Ronnie driving your truck? Was this what she wanted in payment for Friday night?" Dick asked, slapping Logan playfully on the back.

_Yep, the rumor mill is in full force._ Veronica could see the pain flash across Logan's face. She quickly moved to pull him away from Dick. "That's right Dick, and the rest of our deal involves him walking me to my locker so… bye now." She reached out for Logan's hand and moved him in beside her. _So much for acting like this is normal._

"Thank you." He whispered into her ear as they entered the school.

Veronica knew that their actions were going to be misinterpreted, but, despite all of her misgivings, she thought, _I._ _Just. Don't. Care._

* * *

><p>Logan kept a firm grip on Veronica's hand until the pain in his back ebbed. He could feel the stares even after he released her hand. He'd had so many days where he'd had to endure stupid questions and inadvertent back slaps, body checks, and overall pain-inducing encounters that he couldn't help but appreciate the distance that her nearness afforded him.<p>

Halfway to Logan's locker, Ashley Banks approached them and reached out to wrap her arm around Logan's waist. He was mentally preparing himself for the pain that would accompany her touch when Veronica moved her body between him and Ashley. Ashley's arm wrapped around Veronica's waist instead and Ashley quickly recoiled.

"Logaaan, what the hell? Why are you walking around with _her?_" Ashley squawked, trying to move in closer to Logan again.

_What is wrong with these girls? I let her go down on me once and suddenly we're BFFs? _Logan started to open his mouth to tell her just what he thought when Veronica cut him off.

"Hi Ashley, wasn't homecoming, like, so much fun!" Veronica said in a fake, perky voice. Logan couldn't help but smile as Veronica led him away from Ashley and toward a side hall. Once in the hall, Veronica pulled him into a little alcove. "What do you want to do?" She asked, turning to face him.

She looked so intense, so unlike 'Pep Squad Veronica'. No, this was 'Kick Ass Veronica' and she was on his side. He reached out for her hands. "Walk you to your locker and then mine, followed by Calculus?" Logan presented it as a question so she could still back out if she wanted to.

Veronica nodded and gave him a very small smile. "Unless you want the rumors to be worse than they already are, you might want to let go of my hands."

Reluctantly, Logan released her hands after giving them one last squeeze. She was right, of course. It was one thing to present themselves as no longer enemies, but holding hands would get everyone saying they were an item. Logan had enough blowback to deal with from Duncan already. If he and Veronica were careful, they could navigate the school while presenting themselves as friends without it getting blown out of proportion. _Yeah right._

* * *

><p>"Troy, I heard you finally came to your senses and ditched the skank." Madison playfully slapped Troy's arm. <em>I can't believe he ever gave Veronica Mars the time of day<em>.

"You know it. Had to cut 'er loose." Troy put his arm over Madison's shoulder. "You'll _never_ guess who she's with now." He whispered in her ear.

"Madison! Madison, you'll never guess what just happened!" Ashley Banks yelled, a little out of breath.

Madison huffed at Ashley, "I'm talking to Troy, Ash."

"Oh Troy will want to hear this too." Ashley grinned and her eyes lit up.

"I will? Let's hear it then." Troy winked at her, stepping away from Madison.

Madison frowned, "Well?"

"I just saw Logan Echolls walk into school with Veronica Mars. So of course I went to rescue him from her and the little bitch stepped between us. But here's the weird part, Logan looked relieved and let her drag him away!" Ashley said indignantly.

_Logan with Veronica Mars? _"Are you high Ashley? He hates her." Madison replied.

"As it turns out," Troy smiled broadly, his eyes glinting with excitement, "I was going to tell you that I know first hand that Logan spent the weekend with Veronica and that it was _clothing optional_. If you know what I mean."

"You're both crazy, he hates her." Madison assured them as she looked down the hall to see Logan emerge from a side hall with a small blonde at his side. She was so distracted that she missed Dick's arrival.

"I know, right Maddie? Ronnie _drove_ him to school this morning." Dick leered suggestively then leaned in to kiss Madison, but she turned at the last second so the kiss landed on her cheek.

"No shit, man?" Troy hopped up and down a few times bumping Madison in the shoulder.

"Watch it!" She yelled at him, stepping further away. But her eyes were still stuck on the retreating figures of Logan and Veronica. _What will Duncan think of this?_

* * *

><p>Wallace's first period had been a shit show. They weren't supposed to speak anything but French during class, but Madame Rousseau had given up about halfway through. All anyone could talk about was Logan, Veronica, and Duncan. Wallace didn't comment, but he listened closely. Veronica would want to know what was being said. Everyone was talking about the dance and how Veronica had ditched Troy for Logan. A few people even knew about the skinny dipping, though their versions sounded more like the start of a porno. <em>V's going to love that.<em> To make matters worse, everyone was talking about Troy's dad's car getting stolen, so he was getting even more sympathy from the 09ers.

Wallace entered Mr. Wu's second period science class only to be intercepted by Logan, who dragged him to a bench at the back of the room. Seating wasn't strictly assigned, but Wallace really preferred to sit closer to the front. He needed to do well in this class so he could take AP next year.

"Wow Logan, nice to see you, too." Wallace grumbled, taking the seat Logan indicated.

"Right, pleasantries…" Logan offered Wallace his hand, "Good morning Wallace, I hope all is well today. Would you like to contribute to the wreaking of misfortune upon someone we both find repugnant?" Logan smirked and rubbed his hands together in a villainous fashion.

"Yeah, yeah, I want to help you mess with Troy. Especially after what I've been hearing, man. You should hear what people are saying about you." Wallace whispered conspiratorially.

"I've heard some of it. I don't care what they say about me, but what about Veronica? What have you heard?" Logan's customary smirk morphed into narrowed eyes and a scowl.

"Nothing all that different from before, honestly. You know, stuff about her being a gold digger and having moved onto you as a target. A whole bunch of different versions of what went down Friday night. Something about the two of you having sex in one of the side halls before school started… That kind of stuff." Wallace wasn't surprised by the way people were acting; it was par for the course at Neptune High. But he was surprised that Veronica had put herself in this situation for Logan. Up until now, the rumors about her had been baseless and Veronica had ignored them. But now it seemed like she and Logan, while maybe not deliberately setting out to fuel the fire, weren't trying to prevent it either. "You two had to know people were going to go crazy if you showed up here together. If you're so worried about V, why did you have her drive you to school?"

Logan began kicking the side of the table and flipping a pen through his fingers. Then he abruptly stopped and used the pen to point to the remainder of the bruise on his cheek. "When I got this my back got fucked up, too. I haven't felt up to driving. It's why I was staying with Ronnie this weekend… she was taking care of me." Logan resumed flipping the pen through his fingers.

"Okay man, that makes more sense. But what happened to you?" Wallace looked at Logan, trying to see if there were any other apparent injuries, but with the long sleeved shirt and pants all that he could see was the fading bruise on Logan's face.

"It's complicated." Logan fiddled with his shirtsleeves, "Anyways, Dick kinda messed up our plans of separating once we arrived on campus. It doesn't matter anymore though. It's done. I'm more interested in fucking with Troy." Logan said.

"Fine, don't tell me." Wallace shrugged. He recognized evasion; he certainly got enough of it from Veronica. "How do you want to deal with Troy?"

"I'm not sure; my go-to method would be to beat him up," he smiled and cracked his knuckles. "But I'm pretty sure Veronica would be pissed if I did that. Can we do the whole PI thing? You know check for priors and stuff like that?"

Wallace nodded his head, "I know the passwords to a couple of the online databases that V and Mr. Mars use. We could start there and see if anything pops up that we could use against him. We'll get a lot further with Veronica helping us."

"Mr. Echolls and Mr. Fennel, would you like to share with the class what's so interesting?" Mr. Wu called them out for not paying attention.

"No, sir." "Sorry, sir." They said in unison. Mr. Wu continued his lecture.

Wallace tried to pay attention for the rest of class but realized it was a lost cause when he overheard a couple of seniors commenting about him and Logan. Not only was everyone in school talking about his BFF, but now it appeared that he was part of the gossip, too. _Great, just great_.

When the bell rang, Wallace walked with Logan to Veronica's locker, deciding to accept his fate as the even-more-gossiped-about friend of Veronica Mars and now, he guessed, Logan Echolls. Veronica was waiting at her locker when the boys arrived.

"Was second period as fun for you guys as it was for me?" She grimaced.

"I'm sure we had a lot more fun since Wally, here, and I had each other for support." Logan chuckled.

"Yep, we were the talk of the class. Literally V. Everyone was talking about us like we were a new couple or something." Wallace couldn't help laughing; it was all so ridiculous.

When Veronica didn't laugh or comment, Wallace watched as Logan's expression turned more serious, "What happened?"

"It's nothing…" she trailed off, not looking at either of them.

Logan tried to put his arm around Veronica, but she just shrugged him off and slammed her locker. "I don't want to talk about it." She sighed and looking deflated, turned away from them both. She walked into the girl's bathroom before they could stop her.

"What do you want to do about that?" Wallace asked a somewhat crestfallen Logan, eyeing the hall full of students staring at them.

Logan reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and extracted a couple of bills. "Will you go grab a hot chocolate with whipped cream from the student store? I'm going to wait here in case she comes out."

Wallace rushed to the student store to get the hot chocolate before their fifteen-minute break was over. Luckily the line was short and he returned with the drink just as the first bell rang.

"Here, you'll need these too." Wallace waved two tardy excuse slips at Logan.

"Thanks man, I've got this. I'll see you at lunch." Logan assured Wallace and then disappeared into the girl's bathroom.

Wallace left and started jogging; he made it to the office just as the final bell rang.

* * *

><p><em>Stupid skinny dipping. <em>_How did something that was supposed to be a tribute to Lilly get so out of control? Stupid question, Veronica. When was anything involving Lilly ever under control? _Veronica sighed. She should have known better.

Veronica paced the bathroom. She was close to getting her emotions back to a reasonable level when she heard the door open. "Find a different bathroom; this one's occupied!" She yelled without turning to see who had entered.

"Oh come on Ronnie, I think there's room for both of us." Logan smiled and extended a steaming to-go cup to her. "Hot chocolate with extra whipped cream."

"How do you do that?" She asked him, accepting the cup.

"Do what?"

"Know what will make me feel better?" She inhaled the sweet smell and carefully took a sip. "Mm…"

"It's no big secret that you have a thing for chocolate and sugar." Logan smirked at her.

His comment had her fuming all over again. Yes, Logan had always known how to make her feel better, but also how to make everything hurt that much more. And, because of that, so did the rest of the 09ers.

"You're right, my life is one big fucking open book!" She spat, slamming the cup onto the counter and causing a little to spill out. Veronica hastily turned and reached for a paper towel to clean up the mess. When she turned back around, Logan was standing just a foot away from her.

"What do you mean?" He asked, gently squeezing her shoulder.

"I just—I really hate those spiteful…" Veronica took a slow, deep breath before continuing. "Madison, Ashley and Shelly were just being themselves. Calling me a slut, accusing me of trying to seduce you while I was with Troy. You know, stupid stuff."

"I know they can be awful, but Ronnie, that stuff doesn't sound that different from the…" He trailed off, eyes down cast and shoulders a little more slumped than a few moments before.

Veronica reached out for his hand, "I know Logan. And really, it wasn't that bad. I don't actually care what they say about me. I'm just angry because I was trying to have this… one last fling with Lilly. It was a moment in time just for me. It was supposed to be special. It was supposed to only belong to me. And now everyone knows about it. They're mocking it." Veronica released his hand and picked up her cup.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't been there none of this would be happening." Logan pulled on his hair, taking his turn to pace the small room.

Veronica stepped forward, blocking Logan's path, "Hey, I don't regret it. If I had to share that with anyone I'd choose you. I just would have preferred not to also share it with the whole school, but what can you do?"

Logan nodded, but he still looked like he was standing under a dark cloud. "Let's get to class before any new rumors get started." He said, reaching for his and Veronica's bags. He flashed her the tardy slips, "That Wallace sure is handy." A small smile finally reached his face.

"You have no idea." Veronica smiled.

* * *

><p><em>Where are they? They should both be here! <em>Duncan could feel the anger building again. He had already endured two hours of gossip about Veronica and Logan, and even some about himself.

Duncan had arrived on campus early that morning, hoping to catch Logan before classes started. When he had seen Veronica driving Logan's truck, the emotional turmoil and anger of seeing them together over the weekend had risen again. During the break between second and third periods, Duncan had followed a very upset Veronica from Mrs. Murphy's English class. He was ready to swoop in and comfort her when Logan and that guy who follows Veronica around had disrupted his plans. Duncan waited, hoping to get a moment alone with Veronica before Journalism started, but she had ducked into a bathroom. To add insult to injury, Logan had followed her in when the bell rang. Duncan tried to convince himself that it was nothing, but his anger and jealousy were like an open wound. Logan and Veronica were picking away at his self-control.

_Logan lied. Veronica is a whore. __ How could they? How could she?_ Duncan couldn't sit still any longer. The bell had rung ten minutes ago, but Logan and Veronica had yet to arrive in class.

"Ms. Dent?" Duncan asked, approaching the Journalism teacher's desk.

"Yes, Duncan?" She responded with a smile.

"Did you send Logan and Veronica on an out of class assignment?"

"No, but now that you mention it, I'm surprised they aren't here." Ms. Dent got up from her desk and headed to the door, which was pulled open from the other side just as she got to it. "Well there you two are. Is everything all right?" Duncan heard her ask.

Logan nodded, handing Ms. Dent two tardy excuse slips while Veronica mumbled something Duncan couldn't hear.

Duncan took a seat at the table in the center of the room so that he could watch Logan and Veronica no matter where they sat. He tracked their movements until they settled at the computers in the far corner of the room. Logan put himself between Veronica and the rest of the room, making it so Duncan could only catch occasional glimpses of her.

Over the class period, Duncan watched as Logan and Veronica shared a whispered conversation and casual touches. Although this jealousy of Logan and Veronica's relationship was something he hadn't felt in a long time, it wasn't exactly a new sensation.

**FLASHBACK**

The long ride home from the late-summer soccer tournament had been excruciating. Duncan was more than two hours late for his date with Veronica, and he knew that she was waiting for him at his house. At this point there wouldn't be time for a date at all before he had to take her home. Duncan had texted to let her know he was running late, and she had replied quickly, telling him not to worry and that she'd be there when he got home. God, he loved her. She was so sweet and kind and beautiful. She was everything he could ever want.

Duncan entered the Kane estate with a little skip in his step. He was about to see his girl. He could hear a movie playing in the den and decided it would be fun to sneak up and scare her. She would scream and then would want him to hold her tight.

Duncan quietly slipped into the room and got low to the ground so that he could approach her without being seen. He was almost parallel with the couch when he realized Veronica wasn't alone. Duncan moved so that he was a little in front of the couch and saw that Logan was pressed up against Veronica's side with his arm draped across her shoulders. Veronica's head was resting on Logan's shoulder and his head was leaning against hers, a blanket covered them. They were both sound asleep.

Duncan felt his heart stutter as pain lanced through his chest. He rushed out of the room as quietly as possible and up to his room, his mind a jumble... He was almost to his room when he ran straight into Lilly.

"Hey Donut, where's the fire?" She smiled at him.

"I… I… They…" He couldn't form what he had seen into words; he felt like he was going to explode at any moment.

"Chill out, they aren't doing anything. They fell asleep watching a movie. I thought they were cute. He pines for her. She has no idea, of course." Lilly laughed to herself.

"Wha… what do you mean 'he pines for her'? Logan's your boyfriend!" Duncan felt angry on his sister's behalf even if she didn't appear to be upset herself.

"Geez Donut, are you blind? Your best friend has had it bad for Veronica Mars for years. I just scooped him up before he had a chance to do anything about it because I knew you liked her."

"Right, because you're so selfless…" Now that he could direct his anger at Lilly, something he was very used to, Duncan found that he had regained his ability to speak in full sentences.

"Fine, I didn't like that he wasn't paying as much attention to me." Lilly sighed. "But really none of that is the point. Don't you see? They are both going to feel guilty as hell when they wake up and will want to make it up to us. It's the best!" By the time she finished her sentence, Lilly was past Duncan and almost to the stairs. "Come on, let's wake 'em up. You might finally get more than just the usual over-the-shirt action after this, little brother." She winked at him.

Duncan watched as Lilly bounced down the stairs. He felt horrible, but maybe there was something to what she had said. And his hands would be clean; he wouldn't even have to do anything. Veronica's embarrassment over falling asleep with Logan would make her try even harder to please him. And she made Duncan so happy; that could only be a good thing, right?

Lilly was waiting for him in the hall. As Duncan approached, she made a big show of loudly greeting him and calling Logan and Veronica's names. A few moments later, bleary-eyed Veronica and Logan stumbled out into the hall to greet them. Duncan noted that Logan didn't look all that happy to see Lilly, but that was quickly forgotten when he saw Veronica's bright smile.

**END FLASHBACK**

Duncan emerged from his daydream to see Veronica with the same bright smile from his memory, except it was being directed at Logan. Duncan jumped out of his chair, knocking it over in the process, and stormed out of the room.

Duncan headed straight to his car, slumping down in the driver's seat and staring back at the school.

"Dammit Lilly!" He screamed at the steering wheel. "She was supposed to be mine. You said she'd be mine." Duncan could feel his face growing warm and tears building in his eyes. He started the SUV and sped out of the parking lot.

* * *

><p>AN2: Thank you to Bondopoulos for the intense re-write we did of the scene in girls bathroom. The plot was trying to get away from me and she helped rein it back in with hours of back and forth on google docs! You're the best :)

A/N2: I want to make a couple of quick comments about my Duncan. First, I'm so glad you all despise him so much (hehe). I want emphasize that a lot of what he thinks and the way he remembers things do not necessarily reflect what 'actually' happened. And if you feel like he's a bit all over the place in how he is thinking and reacting, you're correct, he is and it is intentional.


	9. Out From The Shadows

A/N: Thank you to all the new Followers and Subscribers this past week! And you new lurkers, too :) I'm so excited to see so many people enjoying my story. Extra big thanks go out to Bondopoulos and BryroseA! Betaing, handholding, encouraging, I am so lucky!

I'm posting this early in honor of the one year anniversary of the Veronica Mars Movie! Additionally, this is the longest chapter so far, I hope you enjoy the new POV introduced in this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9 – Out From The Shadows<strong>

* * *

><p>After Journalism, Logan and Veronica had parted ways, she to PE and he to Computer Lab. Trying to concentrate on his assignment, however, was proving to be, <em>hmm… a fruitless endeavor,<em> Logan thought as he skimmed his fingers across the keyboard and flicked them at the screen. If it weren't for the stupid AP History test sixth period, he would have seriously considered skipping the rest of the day. But Logan knew Veronica wouldn't ditch a test, and he wasn't going to leave her to face the wolves on her own.

Instead of being productive, he spent most of the class wondering where Duncan had taken off to. Logan had noticed Duncan watching him and Veronica earlier, but he'd decided to follow Veronica's lead. If Veronica wanted to ignore Duncan until they could try to talk to him privately, then that's what they would do.

The sound of the bell ringing pulled Logan out of his introspection. He quickly hit save and emailed the assignment to himself so that he could finish it at home later. He grabbed his things and headed to the quad for lunch.

Logan took a seat at the table that Veronica and Wallace typically occupied and waited for them. He had planned everything out. First, he would eat with Veronica and Wallace and they could make some plans to get back at Troy. Then, Logan planned to spend the second part of the lunch period catching up with Dick and the guys. Maybe he'd even have time to slip in a few nasty comments to the resident bitches for good measure. _See Logan Echolls juggle…_ he laughed to himself as Wallace arrived and took a seat.

"How'd it go? Did you get her to go to class?" Wallace asked, concern etching his face.

"Yeah, and I have a few new people to add to my shit list. Madison, Ashley and Shelly are giving Veronica a hard time." Logan was sure most of the girls' spite was rooted in jealousy. All three of them had been desperate to get his attention for the past year and any time he and Lilly had broken up during the years before. Hell, Madison had even put the moves on him while she was with Dick. Logan was a lot of things, but he wasn't into hooking up with one of his best friends' girl.

"I know man, I've been hearing it, too. Girls are vicious, which is why I am eternally grateful that I only have a brother." Wallace professed, spinning around in his seat to eye the girls in question.

"Well, I plan to set them straight about Veronica." Logan shrugged with a cocky look on his face. "It should all die down soon enough."

"Dude, why are you sitting here?" Dick slapped him on the back.

_Fuck! I have got to get Dick to stop doing that. _"Hey, Dick. Have you met Wallace?" Logan managed, grimacing.

"Naw, how's it goin'?" Dick acknowledged Wallace and then turned back to Logan. Dick gestured to their usual table, "Dude, come on."

"I'll be over in a bit, thanks Dick." Logan smiled tightly at his friend.

"Okay… Maddie and I ordered Chinese." Dick smiled brightly as Madison wrapped her arm around Dick's waist.

"Hey, Logan. Why are you sitting here with _him_?" Madison's face looked pinched as she glared as Wallace.

"I dunno Maddie, I must have gotten lost." Logan deadpanned, raising his eyebrows at Wallace.

"Well, come on then." Madison stepped around Dick and reached out her hand to rub across Logan back. She pulled her hand back immediately when Veronica appeared between them, blocking Madison.

_Veronica Mars to the rescue twice in one day. Now if she could just get Dick to stop slapping my back I'd be set._

Madison took a step back and Veronica sat down on the bench next to Logan, effectively cutting Madison off, while Dick continued to stand there awkwardly.

Veronica appeared to be oblivious to the fact that they were a spectacle. She pulled out the bag lunch she had packed that morning and divided the food between them.

Logan reached for the fruit salad container only to have Dick snatch it away. "What the fuck man?" Logan said, turning to grab the container back.

Dick held up the Tupperware container of fruit. "You're going to eat some white trash lunch that Ronnie made instead of eating with us?"

"Yes, Dick. That is exactly what I'm going to do." Logan held out his hand for the container, and, when Dick didn't place it in his hand, he stood up. Logan looked Dick directly in the eye and held his hand out again.

"Whatever dude," Dick said, tossing the bowl at Logan. "I guess Troy was right. You care more about pussy than about your friends."

"Don't say that!" Logan took a step toward Dick, his posture rigid and his face intense. "It isn't like that. I know I was a jackass to Veronica, but that ends now; actually it ended three days ago. You can either keep up with the times or go it alone!" Logan yelled at Dick as Wallace came to stand next to him. Logan took another step closer to Dick and lowered his voice, "Are you ready to take on Neptune alone, Dick? Because, if you haven't noticed, I'm all you've got. Duncan's been mentally MIA for a year now and all of these other assholes couldn't give a rat's ass about you. I mean it, man."

Dick's eyes widened. He nodded in acknowledgement of Logan's threat.

"That's kinda a general rule." Logan said, now addressing the crowd on the quad at large. "If you have a problem with Veronica, you can say it to my face or shut the hell up." Logan turned his attention back to Dick as if daring him to say something.

"Boys, boys…" Veronica stood up, coming between Logan and Dick. "Logan?" She said softly, catching his attention with her warm hand on his forearm.

As soon as she touched him, he felt the tension release. Logan rolled his shoulders carefully and turned his attention fully to Veronica. "It's okay, Veronica."

Veronica turned to face Dick. "Thank you Dick… Madison. This has been fun. We're going to eat now so you can run along." Veronica smiled at Dick and resumed her seat, gently tugging Logan down next to her. Wallace followed their lead and turned his back on Dick, reaching for the bag of cookies Veronica had set out on the table.

_Snickerdoodles! When did she slip those in the bag?_ Logan smiled.

Madison stalked away but Dick stood open-mouthed, staring unabashedly at the three of them.

"Well boys, do you want to hear how great PE was?" Veronica began as if she'd just arrived at the table. "I almost had to rescue my clothes from a toilet. Luckily, I caught the thieves before it went that far. Can you tell my clothes spent some time on the locker room floor?" She smiled sweetly at them in such a way that anyone passing by might think that the group was talking about a fun time.

Logan felt like they were putting on a show for an audience that was waiting with bated breath. Whenever he glanced around at the rest of the quad, people were staring at them and whispering. He was sure that eventually everyone would find something else to amuse themselves with, but for now it was getting pretty annoying.

Logan glanced back around and saw that Dick was still standing next to their table, staring at them. "Your clothes look fine Ronnie. Can you pass me a fork?" He asked. With that Dick finally started to walk away. Logan watched out of the corner of his eye as Dick turned back toward the unlikely trio several times on his way back to his own table, a look of bewilderment on his face. Logan continued his conversation, undaunted. "Computer Lab was uneventful and highly unproductive. I'm going to have to finish the assignment tonight. How 'bout you Wallace?"

"Trig was fine. Nothing exciting to report." Wallace added to the discussion. Logan noticed that after Dick's departure, the groups around the quad seemed to resume their own conversations.

"So Veronica, Wallace and I were talking…" Logan grinned mischievously at Veronica.

"Not _talking_… are you okay?" She asked with an expression of faux concern.

Wallace leaned in, "We want to mess with Troy."

"Of course you do. What did you have in mind?" Veronica asked apprehensively.

The boys shared their ideas about looking into Troy through the PI databases and Veronica smiled, "Well, I think that sounds like an excellent job for you, my tweedles. You can take point on operation 'mess with Troy' while I handle Luke's," Veronica pressed her lips into a tight line, "hmm… predicament."

Before Logan or Wallace could respond, the quad went completely silent again. Logan saw Veronica's eyes go wide as she scooped up some pudding. He followed her eyes across the quad to where Duncan had appeared. His pants were dirty and his shirt looked torn. _What the hell?_

"I think it might be time for us to head to the library to print up that death certificate for the bank." Veronica looked at Logan as she spoke. "Unless you would prefer a very public confrontation with Duncan. Because he is headed our way."

"Shit! Yeah, let's go. He looks like a fucking mess." Logan said, grabbing the rest of their things. They had a lot to do before their test and trip to the bank, evading Duncan while they did it was just an added bonus.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day flew by for Veronica. She had printed a barely acceptable fake death certificate in the library while she, Logan, and Wallace avoided the quad and any potential Duncan drama. Duncan had looked terrible, and, while she had really wanted to try to find out what had happened to him, she hadn't been able to shake any information loose during the last two periods of the day. On top of that, she wasn't feeling very confident about the death certificate she had printed. Anything more than a cursory inspection would expose it as a fake.<p>

_If only I could shake Logan for an hour and sneak off to the bank alone, I'd be all set… _she thought with mixed emotions. While she really preferred to play the role of the grieving daughter alone, it was clear that Logan wasn't really feeling up to driving yet. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't ready to leave him alone in his current state either. A quick check showed that he had bled through his shirt in a couple of places. Apparently Dick's customary greeting was pretty physical and had caused a few of the bigger wounds to re-open. She shook her head and laughed to herself, _Dick sure could be a prick._

"What's so funny? Do you find my discomfort entertaining?" Logan teased. Despite the laughter in his voice, his stiff posture was evident in Veronica's peripheral vision.

"No, I was just thinking about Dick." Veronica saw Logan whip around and grimace as she slowed to turn into the bank's parking lot. His hands gripped the door and center console.

"Wow, this is getting old fast. I was actually feeling a lot better this morning, now I can't even do a dramatic turn to tease you about getting your mind out of the gutter."

"I don't find the fact that you're hurting funny. Speaking of which, I tossed some ibuprofen into our lunch; it should still be in my bag if you wanna check." Veronica pulled into the first available parking spot, turned off the truck, and turned to him. "And you know I meant Dick Jr., Logan.

"I guess that'll work if you really want to name it. But wouldn't Logan Jr. be more appropriate since I have a good friend named Dick?" His eyes glittered with amusement at his joke.

"Are you done?"

"Almost… let's see, you always did have a soft spot for Dick." Logan beamed at Veronica, obviously pleased with himself. "Okay, I'm done… for now. So what's next?"

"I'm pretty sure you're the one with the soft spot for Dick." Veronica gave Logan an annoyed look. "What happens next is I go into the bank and get into my mom's safe deposit box while you wait here patiently." Veronica reached for her bag. She took a minute to find the painkillers and extra bottle of water for Logan.

"I think it'll be more believable if I go with you. I can play the role of 'supportive boyfriend.'"

"I really don't think that's necessary." Veronica handed him the pills and water then turned to get out of the truck.

He quickly swallowed the pills and reached for the handle to get out of the truck. "Come on Veronica, 'supportive boyfriend' would never take no for an answer. Besides, this is for my own safety. It's hot out and you didn't even crack the windows."

"Fine, fine, you can come with me. I thought you hurt too much to drive, but you're okay play role of 'supportive _friend_?'" Veronica turned to glare at Logan, who shrugged a bit stiffly and looked disappointed. "Yeah, you've been recast, sorry." She threw over her shoulder as she continued on without him. Logan gave her a mischievous grin as he caught up with her near the entrance of the bank. She suspected he was up to something, but didn't want to waste time figuring out what it was.

Once inside, Veronica took a deep breath, readying herself for the bit of acting. As she rolled her shoulders back she felt Logan's fingers entwine with hers. She was about to argue with him when he turned her into his chest and nuzzled his face into her hair, as if to offer comfort, but instead he spoke quietly into her ear.

"Let me help you sell this. The teller is going to be distracted by you being upset and me being a bit hands-y. They won't even look at the paperwork. You can still cry on command, right?" His whispered words softly caressed her ear, sending spikes of warmth down to her toes.

_What the hell was that?_ Unable to trust her voice, Veronica nodded, causing her cheek to brush against his; the bit of rough stubble abrading her sensitive skin. Veronica bit her lip hard and thought of Lilly, a sure-fire way to cause her eyes to tear up.

"You've got this." Logan breathed into her ear and she felt his lips make contact with her cheek in a soft sweep of skin against skin. Logan shifted Veronica slightly in front of him, keeping an arm wrapped around her waist, and rubbed small soothing circles on her hip with his thumb.

Veronica wondered if Logan had been able to tell that she was nervous about the death certificate receiving scrutiny or if he was just being a perv, or maybe both. _Probably both; something to give him a hard time about later… _With Logan draped over her and tears glistening in her eyes, Veronica approached the only available teller, a woman who looked to be in her early thirties.

"Hi. May I help you?" The woman asked pleasantly, though her eyes drifted to where Logan was gripping Veronica's waist, his fingers causing the fabric of her shirt to bunch and release.

_I hope the teller finds this as distracting as I do…_

"Hi." Veronica leaned heavily against Logan and kept herself from making full eye contact. "My mom died last year and I just found this." Veronica held up the key and lifted the fake death certificate out of her bag, handing them both to the teller, and sniffling loudly.

"Are you okay, babe?" Logan said sweetly, pulling her closer, his eyes burning into hers.

_Wow, he really knows how to turn it on when he wants to. I think the acting talent skipped his parents' generation and jumped straight into him._

"I just miss her." Veronica exhaled the words, turning her face into him. She felt a tear, which wasn't entirely fake, slide down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, miss. Um… just follow me and we'll go down to the vault." The teller said, her words sincere.

"Thank you, it's been a hard year." Logan said, pressing a kiss to the top of Veronica's head.

A few minutes later they were alone in the vault with Veronica's mother's box unlocked.

"That was completely unnecessary Logan." She said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Unnecessary? I had that woman wrapped around my little finger." He held up his fifth digit as if it were a magic wand.

"And now she'll remember us..."

"Who cares? We'll take everything with us today, so what does it matter?"

Veronica looked around the room in a thinly veiled attempt to conjure up a reason it might matter. She came up short. "Fine, it probably doesn't but…"

"But nothing. That was fun, admit it." Logan grinned at her.

"You just wanted to grope me!"

"Trust me, if my goal had been to grope you I would have done a lot more than put my arm around you and whisper sweet nothings in your ear." He leered at her for a moment and then winked.

"Let's get this over with." Veronica turned away from Logan and his silliness. She pulled hard on the box handle, causing it to slide out with a screech of metal against metal.

Inside of the box was a manila envelope and some loose papers. Veronica handed the sealed envelope to Logan and quickly sorted through the loose papers. _A receipt from the Neptune Grand with Jake Kane's signature. Why would my mom have this?_ Veronica continued to scan the paper and saw the date-time stamp. _October 3, 2003 4:15. What the hell?_

"We offer a wide selection of box sizes. I'm sure our bank can accommodate whatever your needs may be." A different bank employee led an older couple into the vault.

Veronica nodded to the couple. "Let's get out of here. I want to look through all of this in private." She said quietly to Logan, then folded the receipt with Jake Kane's name on it quickly and slipped it into her pocket. _Logan so does not need to see this._

* * *

><p>Keith was sitting at his desk, sorting through the paperwork on the bail jumper he had just brought in, when he heard the Mars Investigation's outer door open. <em>I was sure I locked that<em>, _which means…_

"Number one daughter, I have returned!" Keith shouted enthusiastically, jumping out of his office into the main room. He had hoped to startle Veronica but instead found himself the surprised party. "Hello daughter and… Logan."

Keith observed that they both looked more than a little surprised to see him, which he supposed made sense since he wasn't expected back until later that night. Keith watched Logan carefully as his features smoothed from surprised to neutral.

"Hi Mr. Mars." Logan said.

Keith extended his hand, "Hi Logan, it's been a long time."

**FLASHBACK**

"Keith, Keith! The phooone's iss ringing." Lianne's shrill but slurred voice brought him out of a deep sleep.

"Mmm, okay, okay." Keith wiped his face, trying to clear the sleep from his brain. "Hello?"

"Sheriff? It's Jake Kane, um… have you heard from Veronica?" Jake's voice sounded alert but nervous.

"Jake. Hold on." Keith rolled out of bed and ambled sleepily toward Veronica's room. Keith knew that something was wrong as soon as he saw Veronica's open bedroom door. He peeked in and could see her bed, still neatly made up with a small pile of stuffed animals. "Dammit," he said under his breath and brought the phone back to his ear. "She's not here Jake, and no we haven't heard from her. When was the last time you heard from them?" Keith asked, switching into Sheriff mode.

"We took pictures and loaded them into a limousine earlier this evening." Jake said and then his voice sounded distant "…_Yes Celeste I'll ask_… Sorry Keith, um… would it be possible for you to check to make sure they weren't involved in anything?" Jake asked hesitantly.

"As soon as we hang up I'll call in to the station and make sure there haven't been any incidents involving them. But Jake, if there were I'm positive I would already know about it." Keith said with confidence.

"Thank you, Keith. You'll let us know as soon as you know something?" Jake asked, the concern in his voice evident.

"Of course, of course. I'll talk to you soon Jake." Keith hung up the phone and strode purposefully back to the bedroom he shared with his wife.

"Lianne." He shook her still frame, "Lianne! Wake up! Veronica never came home. It's…" he looked at the bedside clock, "almost five in the morning."

Lianne rolled over and stared at Keith, her eyes glazed over. "I'm sure they're just having too much fun, they'll be home soon." She started to roll back over but Keith grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

"You were supposed to wait up until she got home. Her curfew was 1:30am. What time did you come to bed?" Keith was trying his best to contain his anger at his wife, but it was clear that she had let her drinking get in the way of her parenting, yet again.

"I don't know… um… I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up I didn't check the clock before I got into bed." She yawned broadly and Keith was assaulted with the smell of alcohol.

Several retorts were on the tip of his tongue, but he knew they wouldn't do any good. "Go back to sleep Lianne, I'll take care of it." He sighed, feeling defeated yet again. _What happened to the beautiful, spunky mother of my child? When did I lose her?_

There was nothing to be done about _that _right now. Keith quickly pulled on his uniform while he called Veronica's cell phone. The call went straight to voicemail, so he immediately called the station to make sure there weren't any reports that might have involved the kids. Deputy Sacks answered and assured Keith that there hadn't been any calls that night involving Veronica, Logan or the Kane kids. Feeling a little lighter, Keith jogged out to his squad car and pulled out his cell phone.

"Keith, tell me you have good news." Jake's voice was tense and strained.

"Well I don't have bad news, so as far as I'm concerned that is good news. I think our kids may have just gone on a little unapproved adventure." Keith could hear Jake's release of breath at his words.

"I'll take it. And honestly with Lilly and Logan involved I guess I'm not entirely surprised." Jake said, relief evident in his voice.

"Have you spoken with Logan's parents?" Keith asked the next logical question. It wouldn't be the first time he had found Veronica at Logan Echolls' house in the middle of the night. Usually those times coincided with finding Lianne passed out or he and Lianne fighting. Keith had learned that if Veronica didn't answer her phone, the first place to check was Logan's pool house. If she had arrived home to see her mom passed out on the couch, she might have decided to go to Logan's. Keith couldn't exactly blame her for seeking refuge with her friend.

"I called, but the maid said that Lynn and Aaron were in New York for some premiere and that she hadn't seen the kids at all this evening." Jake informed Keith.

"Okay. Do you know who rented the limousine? We may be able to find out where they are if we call into the rental agency." Keith was feeling more settled as he got to slip further into Sheriff/Investigator mode.

"I think Logan may have. I didn't think to check. There can't be that many rental agencies can there?"

"There are two that service Neptune but they could have hired one out of San Diego, I suppose. Logan's car is at your home, correct?" Keith asked.

"Um… yes, I believe it's still out in the driveway. Why?" Jake asked, confusion in his voice.

"He picked Veronica up earlier this evening, so I assume that they planned to eventually end up wherever they had transportation." Keith replied.

"Oh, of course, that makes sense." Jake laughed nervously.

"I'm going to head to your place, if that's okay Jake? I think it makes sense to use it as our base while I see what I can find out about the limousine."

"Yes, yes. Please. Thank you Keith." Jake said before hanging up.

A few minutes later, Keith arrived at the Kane estate. During the drive over, he had discovered that Logan had rented the limousine under a pseudonym, Philip Marlowe, which stunk of Veronica's influence. Logan had also provided the company with fake identification confirming the occupants would be over twenty-one. Luckily he had paid with his own credit card. _Amateur. _Keith chuckled to himself. He also knew that the limousine was due to arrive at the Kane's in the next ten or so minutes.

Jake and Celeste were waiting for him when Keith parked. Jake looked upset but under control; Celeste looked livid.

"This is all Lilly's fault. Look at what she's gotten Duncan into this time. And that Logan! Don't even get me started on Ver—" Celeste was deep into her snit when she realized Keith was walking up to them.

"Don't let me stop you Celeste. What has my daughter done?" Keith smiled, knowing at least part of Celeste's problem with Veronica was her resemblance to Lianne. Lianne and Jake had been high school sweet-hearts but that was twenty years ago. Keith was surprised that Celeste still seemed to hold a grudge.

"Keith, I apologize. Nothing of course. Veronica is a lovely girl. I'm just upset." Celeste straightened her velour track jacket.

"Not to worry, this time I do have good news. I tracked down the rental agency and as it turns out they'll be arriving any moment." Keith smiled tightly at the Kanes.

"Keith, can I offer you some coffee while we wait?" Jake asked.

"Coffee sounds great, thank you." Keith moved to follow Jake inside but was surprised to find a maid waiting in the entry with a cup waiting for him. "Wow, well thank you." The woman nodded and stepped back out into the hall after handing him his cup. _Service with a shadow rather than a smile in this house, I suppose._

Keith walked back out to the driveway, sipping on the hot coffee. They hadn't waited long before the limousine pulled up. Keith watched as his daughter's best friend—though he'd begun to question that title lately—stumbled out of the car with Duncan's help.

"What seems to be the problem, Officer?" Lilly slurred slightly while holding the train of her dress up.

"Lilly." Celeste gestured for Lilly to come to her. "Are you drunk?"

"Umm, not so much anymore." Lilly laughed, turning to look at Keith. Her eyes sparkled.

Veronica and Logan climbed out of the limousine, both with sheepish expressions at Lilly's words.

"You are absolutely unbelievable. Why do you insist on humiliating me?" Celeste hissed.

Keith turned back to see Duncan moving to stand next to his sister.

"Um, two kids, both out all night, and one getting screamed at?" Lilly declared indignantly.

"'I know you, Lilly. Any trouble this family has ever had, you've been at the root of it." Celeste sneered.

"Mom! It's my fault. It was my idea." Duncan said emphatically.

"You listen, both of you. Inside the house. Come on." Jake sounded exhausted and disappointed rather than mad.

With a defiant look, Lilly turned and strode confidently to an unsuspecting Logan, grabbed his face and gave him a long hard kiss. Logan's eyes swept over to Jake and Celeste, Keith thought he saw a look of resignation on Logan's face followed by a deliberate raise of his eyebrows. The gesture said it all, Logan wasn't surprised by Lilly's behavior, why were they?

Apparently having reached the end of her patience, Celeste turned and stomped back into the house. Keith could hear Jake sigh as Lilly finally broke the kiss and headed for the house. Logan wiped his mouth and turned to walk toward Keith's cruiser.

"Sorry, Dad." Veronica said, turning Keith's attention from the maelstrom of negative emotions coming from the Kane family.

"We'll talk at home." Keith called over his shoulder, "Jake, Celeste. Thanks for the coffee."

Keith saw Duncan turn and give Veronica a small wave and a smile. Keith found himself surprised that Duncan had agreed to whatever plan had gone down that night. Duncan had always seemed fairly levelheaded, but the more he thought about it, the more Keith realized that he hadn't spent much time with the boy. He was basing his opinion of his daughter's boyfriend mostly off of what Lianne had told him.

It was at that moment that the other boy in the foursome recaptured his attention; a boy who Keith had to admit he knew better than his own daughter's boyfriend.

"I'm so sorry Sheriff. This really is my fault. Please don't be too mad at Veronica." Logan said softly, waiting for Keith to let him into the back of the cruiser. It wasn't the first time Keith had let Logan into the back of this car.

Keith gave Logan his best 'Sherrif' stare and pointed to the cars parked in the driveway. "Your truck's here son; aren't you just going to head home?"

"I've been drinking sir…" Logan looked down at the ground. "Veronica made me promise not to drive if I've been drinking." Logan looked up at Keith, a sheepish grin on his face.

"That's my girl." Keith smiled brightly, clapping Logan on the shoulder. "Tell you what, you're coming home with us. You get to sit through my 'staying out all night without permission isn't okay' speech and then, after you kids have slept and had some food, I'll let Veronica bring you back to pick up your truck. That sound reasonable?"

Logan looked up at Keith with an expression that took Keith aback—respect. "Yeah, Sheriff, I think that's more than reasonable. As long as Ronnie doesn't cook the food, that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment, unless it's grilled cheese. Last time she tried to make breakfast the eggs were slimy." Logan frowned.

Keith couldn't help but smile. "I promise to do the cooking. And the lecturing." Keith reached for the door and Logan crawled in and patted the seat. Before Keith could say another word, Veronica slid into the back with Logan, letting him wrap his less-than-pristine tuxedo jacket around her shoulders.

Logan and Veronica both fell asleep on the drive back to the Mars home. Logan woke up as Keith cut the squad car's engine. When Keith walked around the car to let the teenagers out, he was surprised to see that Logan had gathered Veronica in his arms.

"She'll sleep through almost anything. Is it okay if we get the lecture with food a little later?" Logan asked in a soft whisper.

Keith, once again, thought that the title of best friend had been wrongly assigned to Lilly Kane. Perhaps he was looking at Veronica's most loyal friend. "I think that'll be just fine Logan. Why don't you take Veronica to her room and I'll find you some sweats and a blanket for the couch."

"Thanks Mr. Mars." Logan smiled down at Veronica, shifting her in his arms to get a better grip.

_Hmm… Duncan had better watch out._ Keith thought at the look he saw in Logan's eyes.

**END FLASHBACK**

While that morning after homecoming hadn't been the last time Keith had seen Logan, it was certainly the last time he'd seen that version of him. It was just before everything had changed. In the spirit of what Logan and Veronica used to be to one another, Keith decided to give the young man the benefit of the doubt.

Keith extended his hand, "Hi Logan, it's been a long time."

"Yes, sir it has." Keith noted that, although Logan's handshake was firm, his eyes kept darting to Veronica.

"So what are you two kids up to?" Keith asked, his spidey-senses tingling, _no good if I had to guess_.

"School project." Veronica lied smoothly, earning her a glare from Logan. "…and spending time with a friend." She added a bit begrudgingly.

"I'm glad to see you reconnecting with old friends sweetheart." Keith smiled at Veronica, "though I'm not going to lie, this isn't one of the friends I expected to see you _reconnecting_ with." Before Keith could gauge Logan's reaction, the door to MI opened, revealing Rebecca James.

"Hi!" Rebecca said brightly, striding toward the group.

"Hey." Keith smiled at the first woman to make him feel good in quite a while.

Veronica and Logan both turned to face Rebecca. Neither looked surprised. _Of course, that phone call yesterday… smarty-pants daughter over there must have '*69-ed'. Why doesn't Logan look surprised, though?_

"Hi." Rebecca said again.

"I thought, uh…" Keith said nervously.

"I'm guessing I'm early, right?" Rebecca said.

"Actually, I think I'm the one who's late, right?" Veronica looked to Keith.

"No, no, it's fine. It's fine. No one's late or early." Keith could feel a trickle of sweat slide behind his ear, down what was left of his hairline.

During the awkward exchange, Rebecca had moved around to stand next to Keith** "**I'm sorry. I'm just—I was anxious. Hi." Rebecca turned into Keith a bit.

"Hi." Keith grinned at her and leaned down to give her a chaste kiss. He turned to see a bemused expression on Veronica's face and a sly thumbs-up from Logan. _That kid always was entertaining—trouble—but entertaining._ Keith cleared his throat, "Uh, Veronica, Rebecca wanted to stop by and uh…"

"And, uh, just say hello. Outside of school. I'm sure this is a little weird for you so…" Rebecca's face turned a shade brighter as she turned to face Veronica's companion. "Logan, I thought… um… I didn't realize you and Veronica were… friends."

Logan nodded, his cheeks were slightly pinker than before and his expression a little sheepish.

_Good to know the school was aware of the little war that has been going on between my daughter and one of her former best friends. And now said former friend looks… embarrassed about it?_ Keith made a mental note to talk to Veronica about this later.

Veronica ignored Rebecca's comment about Logan, **"**Well, this," Veronica waved her hand indicating the current conversation, "is a little weird, but…you two dating isn't. Um, I'm fine. No worries."

"Well, I thought, um…" Keith stuttered a bit.

Rebecca nodded, "And… and I agree."

"That if you had the chance to talk…things would seem a little less awkward." Keith finished.

"And are you starting to see the catch-twenty-two inherent in the plan?" Veronica said, eliciting a snort from Logan.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Rebecca smiled awkwardly. "Okay, well, um, is there anything I can do that would…make things easier for you?"

"Can you get me out of fifth period Bio?" Veronica asked.

"I'd really like my own parking space." Logan chimed in.

"I don't think I can do that." Rebecca laughed at them.

"I've got it!" Veronica declared with a playful grin. "Admit I'm not socially isolated. See this," Veronica indicated Logan who took her cue and did a little model turn, "this is a person with whom I am being social."

"And you spent all day Sunday with me and Wallace. That was pretty social." Logan supplied helpfully. Keith turned toward the teenaged boy with renewed interest just in time to see Logan's bravado fade as he mouthed 'sorry' to a glaring Veronica.

"Well we should probably get going." Rebecca said to Keith.

"Right, yeah. I'll just grab my coat." Keith headed back into his office. _Why didn't she mention that Logan was with her yesterday? _Keith knew he was missing something, but without time and privacy to ferret out more information, he was in the dark.

* * *

><p>As Logan had expected, Veronica turned and fixed a glare on him the second her father and Ms. James were out of earshot.<p>

"Good job Logan; I wasn't exactly planning to share how much time we spent together this weekend with my dad." Veronica scowled at Logan, who had the decency to look shamefaced.

"I'm sorry. It just came out. You know, we had the banter thing going and…" Logan blew out a breath and Veronica's expression softened a little. "Is your dad going to be mad?" Logan asked.

"I don't think so." Veronica looked up at him with a gamine grin and a little laugh, "Be prepared, though. He'll probably use his interrogation techniques on you next time." Something about the way her eyes sparkled made Logan think she wasn't kidding.

"Soooo," Logan decided a change of subject was needed; the thought of being interrogated by Mr. Mars was a pretty frightening prospect. "Your dad and Becky? Not weird at all, huh?"

Veronica's eyes narrowed and Logan was sure he could see a vein pulsing on her forehead. "Of course not." She turned away to move back behind the desk. "Let's take a closer look at everything from the safe deposit box." Veronica held her hand out to Logan.

Logan reached into Veronica's messenger bag and pulled out the manila envelope and loose papers. Logan handed the papers to Veronica while he started fiddling with the clasp and tape on the large envelope.

Veronica shuffled through the papers and then moved over to the scanner. She had scanned several of the sheets before Logan had finally spotted a letter opener on the desk. He carefully slipped the opener under the loose edge he had created. Logan slipped his hand in and felt the distinct texture of glossy photo paper. He turned the envelope and slid the images out onto the desk.

"Fuck…" Logan hissed at the sight of several pictures of Veronica with the distinctive lines of a gun scope centered over her face. "Veronica you need to look at these." His voice broke over the words as his fists clinched.

Veronica turned to look at the stack of photos on the desk and began flipping through them. Each new photo had the same crosshairs over Veronica's face. Logan took note of Veronica's tight grimace and narrowed eyes.

"Who would send your mom pictures like these?" Logan questioned.

Logan noticed Veronica hesitate before she turned to meet his eyes. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

Logan slipped his arm around Veronica's shoulders and pulled her to him. Even if it was a bit irrational, he wanted to feel with his own hands that she was okay. "_We're_ going to find out."

* * *

><p>AN2: Credit goes to Bondopoulos for the fantastic line: "Come on Veronica, 'supportive boyfriend' would never take no for an answer. Besides, this is for my own safety. It's hot out and you didn't even crack the windows." I'm still over here laughing!

A/N3: Good catch Jeanie205! I've fixed that little 'hairline'


	10. You Lured Me Away

A/N: I'm so grateful to BryroseA and Bondopoulos. You're both fantastic and I'm having so much fun working with you! Thank you reviews/commenters – I love reading your thoughts and (as I think you'll see) I do consider what you have to say :)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10 – You Lured Me Away<strong>

* * *

><p>Despite the craziness of the last few days, Tuesday dawned bright. Logan had texted Veronica around midnight, which led to them exchanging messages throughout most of the night. She'd been annoyed by the first few texts—she hadn't been asleep but she's wanted to ponder the implications of the previous days events in peaceful solitude—but by their fifth exchange Veronica had decided she was happy to have the distraction. Despite parts of her world being shifted on their axis and her exhaustion from their late-night correspondence, Veronica woke up feeling like her life almost made sense again. When she reached over to silence her phone, she realized that it was an incoming text that had awakened her.<p>

**To Veronica Mars from Logan Echolls, 7:15am:  
><strong>Getting coffee, b there n 20

**To Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars, 7:16am:  
><strong>Frap x shot x caramel

**To Veronica Mars from Logan Echolls, 7:17am:  
><strong>Duh

_Well, this feels normal… except it's last year's normal_. Veronica blew out a harsh breath and rolled out of bed, heading for the shower. The water was warm and relaxing even with her thoughts stuck on yesterday's discovery. _All this time, I'd been thinking Mom bolted because she couldn't handle losing everything. Maybe she just couldn't handle losing me._

_It was a funny thing, caring for people_, Veronica thought as she reached for the shampoo. She wanted to hate her mother, to cast her as the villain. But the discovery of the photos painted a somewhat different picture. She had to admit that she might have to reevaluate her position on her mother, which seemed to be an all too familiar theme in her life lately. She felt similarly about Logan's motives. Part of her really did want to be upset with him for pushing her to talk about the night of Shelly's party and for his highhanded actions at the bank. But, on the other hand, it was nice to feel like someone cared. And after months of feeling like she could only count on her father, having someone else in her corner was both reassuring and a bit unsettling. Back when they had been friends _before,_ Logan was always affectionate and thoughtful. There had even been a moment where she thought their relationship might be moving toward more than just friends, but Lilly had set her straight.

**FLASHBACK**

"Lilly, what do you think of Logan?" Veronica asked her best friend. Lilly was picking at the remains of the protein bar she had eaten rather than the grilled cheese Veronica had made earlier.

"He's hot Veronica Mars! And a bad boy." Lilly turned and winked at Veronica, "Just my type. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. He just seems different lately is all," she finished lamely. Veronica wanted to ask Lilly about the way Logan had been looking at her. The first time she had noticed his eyes tracking her was that day at the pool when he'd thrown them both in, his eyes dark with an intensity she'd never seen before. She had seen it again today while she was cooking. Veronica found that being the object of his scrutiny was equally unnerving and exciting.

Lilly stared at Veronica with narrowed eyes, "Does Veronica Mars have a crush?" Lilly flopped onto the bed and tickled her friend.

"Uncle, Lilly! Uncle!" Veronica cried in surrender.

"You don't want him Ronica. He'll expect _things_ and he's more of a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. You are more of a hearts and roses kind of girl, darling—at least you will be at first." Lilly grinned broadly and bounced out of the room.

"I guess you're right." Veronica said sadly to the now empty room. Lilly was rarely able to stay in any one place for long. Veronica, more than used to entertaining herself at the Kane house while Lilly jumped between activities, pulled out the book she'd been reading and made herself at home.

It was at least thirty minutes before Lilly returned, collapsing back down next to Veronica. Lilly looked disheveled and pleased with herself; her makeup was a mess.

"Lilly, you look like the cat that ate the canary. What have you been up to?"

"Just testing out a theory, Veronica Mars." Lilly said, obviously dying to tell her best friend all the details. Veronica decided that this was one of those times when she wouldn't take the bait.

"Oh Lilly, I don't have time for your drama today." Veronica replied, attempting to sound uninterested.

Later, Duncan had filled her in on Lilly and Logan's impromptu make out session. Within a week Logan and Lilly were officially an item, and Logan was looking at Lilly the way he had been looking at Veronica.

**END FLASHBACK**

When Logan and Lilly first started dating, Veronica assumed that her friendship with Logan would change a great deal. But even through the ups and downs of his relationship with Lilly, he and Veronica had stayed close. Their friendship had survived her breakup with Duncan and even Lilly's death. It wasn't until her dad had accused Jake Kane of being involved in Lilly's murder that things had fallen apart. It seemed like the common denominator in all the chaos was the Kanes. The thought of the family she used to be close to pulled Veronica back to the present where she was daydreaming away her hot water. She focused her attention back on her shower and contemplating the photographs that she had found in the safe deposit box. _Never say Veronica Mars can't multitask._

Veronica was fairly certain that the Kanes were somehow involved with the photos she had found at the bank, but she needed proof. She had a few ideas, but was fairly certain that sharing them with Logan would not end well. _Our friendship didn't survive the first round of the Lilly Kane murder investigation; I can't imagine it would endure a second round._ This realization hurt. She would have to keep the connection to the Kanes to herself, something she suspected Logan wasn't going to make easy. Logan had been pretty upset when he had seen the photos. Based on his reaction, she didn't think there was a chance that he would just let it go.

Veronica shut off the water and quickly made her way back to her room. _No need to have another incident like yesterday morning_. She thought, slipping into a jean skirt and t-shirt. Veronica had just finished doing her makeup when she heard a knock at the door. She hopped up and almost skipped to the door. _What am I doing? I'm this excited to see Logan? No, it must be the Frappuccino._

Veronica nodded to herself as she swung the door open with a dramatic bow, "Good sir, you come baring caffeine and sug—" She choked on her words as she realized it wasn't Logan at the door. It was Duncan…

* * *

><p>The line at the coffee shop was ridiculous. Logan glanced at his phone and saw that he had been in Java the Hut for over twenty minutes and he had just placed his order.<p>

**To Nancy Drew from Logan Echolls, 7:24am:  
><strong>sry b there n 10

Logan tapped his foot against a chair and fiddled with his phone while he waited for the barista to make his drinks. _So much for having time to talk before we have to run out the door_… disappointment spread through him. He really wanted to find out what Veronica's plan was regarding the photos. They were scary as hell. Logan had seen the leaked tapes of Lilly's crime scene; they had been the root of his nightmares for the past year. But last night the dream had changed. Instead of Lilly lying dead by a pool it had been Veronica. Logan was so affected by the memory that he jumped slightly when the server called his name. He shuddered and left a tip before collecting the drinks.

A few minutes later he pulled into the small parking lot at the Sunset Cliffs and immediately noticed a familiar silver Mercedes SUV. _What is Duncan doing here?_ Feeling alarmed, Logan left the drinks in the car and ran to Veronica's apartment.

"Duncan! Let go… what's wrong with you?!" Veronica's voice carried out of the apartment's open door.

Logan rushed in and saw Duncan Kane's hands wrapped around Veronica's small arms.

"How long Veronica? Was it the whole time we were together? Do you think I'm stupid?" Duncan punctuated each question with a hard shake.

"Dude, get off her!" Logan yelled. He gripped Duncan's shoulder with one hand and pried the hand closest to him off of Veronica. Duncan let go of her altogether and swung his fist at Logan. But Duncan was too slow; Logan easily blocked the punch, leaving Duncan off balance. Logan took advantage of the situation and shoved Duncan to the ground, "What the fuck, Duncan?"

Duncan's eyes were flat and angry. "I know! I've known all along!"

Logan turned to look at Veronica but kept his body between her and Duncan. "What is he talking about?"

Veronica rubbed her arm where Duncan had grabbed her. She looked rattled and pissed. "I have no idea. I thought it was you so I opened the door. When I did, he grabbed me and started yelling."

Logan turned back to Duncan. "What are you talking about? And where do you get off doing that to Ronnie?"

Logan turned away again. He looked at Veronica's arms, which were mostly visible in the t-shirt she was wearing. Purple fingertip bruises were blooming across both biceps and one forearm. Logan's breath hissed. "God Veronica, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. My arms hurt a little, but that's all." She continued to rub where the bruises were forming.

Logan reached into his pocket for his cell phone and noticed that Duncan had wrapped his arms around his knees and was rocking slowly in place. "Ronnie, where is your dad?" Logan asked as he scrolled through his contact list.

"Um… I don't know. He must have left early this morning since Backup isn't here." Veronica shrugged.

_Duncan's lucky Backup wasn't here, though I wish he had been. _Logan found the number he was looking for and hit send. After two rings the line picked up, "Kane residence."

"This is Logan Echolls, I need to speak to either Mr. or Mrs. Kane. It's…" Logan looked down at Duncan, "well, it's urgent."

A few minutes later Logan heard Jake's concerned voice. "Logan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all right, but Duncan he, um… he…" Logan looked to Veronica, trying to find the correct words. She shrugged, but the look in her eyes and the bruises on her arms made him determined. "Mr. Kane, Duncan attacked Veronica."

"WHAT!? Is she okay? Where are you?" Logan noted the change in Jake's voice from concern to panic.

"She's okay; bruised, but okay. Duncan is like… he's like that day in your study." Logan sighed and heard Jake's harsh intake of breath.

"Where are you? I'll come get him right away."

Logan quickly explained to Jake where Veronica's apartment was and then hung up.

"You've seen Duncan like this before?" Veronica's small hand grabbed Logan's forearm, turning him toward her.

"Yeah, last year. A couple of days after you guys broke up. He was furious and then…" Logan pointed at Duncan rocking on the floor, "like this."

"What do we do?" She asked, fear lacing her words. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Logan that she had kept him between her and Duncan.

"Nothing, Jake will be here soon. Let me look at your bruises." Logan gently took Veronica's arm in his hands and ran his fingers along the bruises. She flinched in pain when he brushed across the mark left by Duncan's thumb. "Ice helps, but don't take aspirin. It'll make the bruises bigger." Logan crossed the small space to the kitchen to find an ice pack. "The coffees are out in the truck if you want to go grab them?" He suggested, not wanting to leave her alone with Duncan to grab them himself.

Duncan continued to rock and make soft sounds of discomfort while Logan and Veronica waited for Jake to arrive. Logan had found two bags of frozen peas, which he helped Veronica keep on the bruises while they drank their coffees.

Thirty minutes later, Jake arrived with two other men that Logan didn't recognize. "I've called the school and explained to them why you're both late this morning. I would appreciate your discretion." Jake stared at Duncan while the two men lifted him up and took him out of the apartment. Jake followed behind them, stopping to look back just as he moved through the doorway. "I'm so sorry Veronica." And Jake was gone.

"Well that was fun." Veronica deadpanned. She took the other bag of peas from Logan and carried them back to the kitchen. "I'm going to put on a different shirt."

While Veronica was changing, Logan busied himself cleaning up the mess that had been made in the apartment during the scuffle. He righted the potted plant that had been knocked over. He couldn't get all the dirt up but figured it could be vacuumed later.

"I know you can still see some of the bruises on my forearm but…" Veronica's voice came from just in front of him.

Logan stood up and inspected the shirt. Veronica had put on a loose three-quarter sleeve top that was a little sheer. You couldn't see the bruises easily, but it was still light enough to not be too hot in the lingering fall heat. "I don't think anyone will notice." He smiled softly, hoping he sounded reassuring. "You ready to go? We won't make much of first period, but we should be there in time for second."

"Oh goody… this day just keeps getting better and better."

* * *

><p>Squeaking into the classroom just as the second bell rang, Dick dove into the first open seat that he saw without checking his surroundings. Mrs. Murphy had a habit of sending students straight to the office if they weren't in their seats by the time the tardy bell rang. And Dick was in no mood to see the pity on the face of whoever was charged with contacting his parents.<p>

Dick moved to put his feet on the legs of the chair in front of him before he realized that it was occupied by one Veronica Mars. _All right man, you've got this. You don't have to be nice to her, but you can't treat her like you have the last year._ Dick gave himself a little pep talk.

Mrs. Murphy started talking about some old book that Dick couldn't have cared less about, so he decided to do something he rarely did; he thought about the events of the past few days. Normally he probably would have just fallen asleep, but so many strange things had happened that he decided the situation warranted some of his brainpower. Despite what most people thought, Dick wasn't stupid. He was indifferent; a coping mechanism that he had perfected during the many years of parental neglect he'd experienced. Indifference was his safety net; it kept him from disappointment. But, after Logan's ultimatum the day before, Dick knew that indifference and a carefree attitude wouldn't get him through whatever was happening to the social structure of Neptune High.

Dick wanted to know what had changed Logan's mind about Ronnie. In the weeks after Lilly's death, Logan had gone from never leaving Ronnie's side to shunning and tormenting her. Dick had been surprised at the time, because Logan and Ronnie had always been so close. _Hell it was Ronnie who introduced me to Logan_.

**FLASHBACK**

It was the first day of seventh grade and Dick was really nervous. He found an empty table in the quad and took a seat, unsure about what the new lunch hierarchy was going to be. He'd heard that some movie star's kid was in their class now, but so far he hadn't had any classes with him. Dick looked around, trying to spot any of his friends, when he felt a sharp little punch to his arm.

"Hey-ya Dick!" Veronica's cheerful voice rang out.

Dick turned to see the short blonde with a much taller brunette guy he'd never met. "Hey Ronnie, who's your new friend?"

"This, Dick Casablancas Jr., is Logan Echolls." Ronnie smiled brightly as she made the introduction. "Logan Echolls, this is Dick. He surfs, says 'dude', and is generally not a jerk."

"Hey man." Logan said, holding out his fist.

Dick bumped the new guy's fist. "Dude, you surf?"

"Yeah. You know the good spots here? I've been with Duncan, but he's more into ankle busters." Logan took a seat at the table.

"Yeah man, tell me Duncan isn't still ridin' that fish board?" Dick asked. He hadn't been surfing with Duncan in a while, but he knew that the Kane kid needed to grow some balls.

"Naw, not anymore." Logan laughed and turned to look at Ronnie. "Sorry, this must be boring for you."

"Not at all." Veronica smiled at them both. "I told you I'd introduce you to all the right people. I'm going to go buy an Skist. I'll be back." Veronica skipped a couple of steps and disappeared down a corridor.

**END FLASHBACK**

_Well, if Logan wants us to be nice to Ronnie, I don't really see the problem. I always liked her before._

Mrs. Murphy finished speaking, and the sudden silence snapped him out of his trance. He realized that Veronica was staring at him.

"…Dick." Veronica waved her hand in front of his face. "Are you in there? We have to partner up." She was frowning at him.

"Um… right. What are we working on?" Dick fumbled with the papers on his desk and avoided eye contact with her.

Veronica laughed lightly, "We're supposed to discuss the major themes of the reading. Did you do the reading?"

Dick sat up and smiled broadly. "I read the Cliff's Notes. Does that count?"

Veronica smirked at him, "It's more than I'd hoped for."

_Look at me being civil and not pissing Ronnie off. Solid B effort right there._ Dick did his best to contribute the little that he actually remembered from his reading as Ronnie made a short list for them to turn in.

"Well, Dick, that experience didn't make me wish I was spelunking. See you around." Veronica turned back around in her seat and grabbed her things just as the bell rang.

Dick slowly gathered his belongings and made his way out into the hall. He merged with the current of students and made his way toward his locker. Up ahead, Dick spotted Logan leaning against a locker watching Veronica swap out her books, so he moved out of the flow of traffic and watched them.

Logan reached his hand out to push some of Veronica's hair from her face and smiled brightly. She was shaking her head. Dick couldn't see the expression on her face, but he was pretty sure her body language was saying it all. Veronica had closed her locker and was now leaning against it, parallel to Logan. Then she pushed up on tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. Whatever she said caused Logan to erupt in laughter.

_What could it hurt to be nice to Ronnie? _Dick pushed off the wall and continued toward his locker.

* * *

><p>Compared to the morning Veronica had had, school was a breeze. She and Logan had missed a review in Calculus, which she didn't consider a huge loss, and Jake Kane had called in an excuse for them so she didn't even have to worry about her dad finding out. English had been a bit surprising, though. Veronica had been there when Logan told Dick, in no uncertain terms, that being anything but polite was unacceptable, but she hadn't expected him to actually be nice. Apparently, neither had Logan, he'd laughed in surprise when Veronica had told him about English. And to top it all off, during PE no one had messed with her clothes.<p>

_Will wonders never cease? Dick being nice and the bitch trio avoiding me like the plague_?_ This is shaping up to be a decent day after all_. She smiled contentedly.

Veronica was leaving the locker room when she spotted Luke standing off to the side trying to get her attention. "Why Mr. Haldeman, what can I do for you this fine day?"

"Might be fine for you! I was threatened by three-hundred pound block of muscle!" Luke punched the bank of lockers.

"Wow, Luke, dramatic much? Come on I'm starving. We can talk about what to do next over lunch." Veronica moved to walk to the quad, and Luke followed quietly behind her.

"Supafly, you're attracting _more_ of the 09er element to our scared table? I'm not sure I'm down with that." Wallace observed Luke with a sour expression as Veronica took a seat at her usual table.

"This one—," Veronica indicated Luke with a backwards pointed thumb, "is just here for a consult."

"And what about that one?" Wallace pointed to the other side of the quad where a tall blond with perfect surfer hair was headed their way.

"You have Logan to blame for _that_." Veronica's lips turned downward.

"Blame me for what? Have I committed evil?" Logan laughed, tossing down a few bags of Chinese takeout onto the table.

"Yes." Wallace and Veronica said in unison, pointing at Dick who was taking a seat at their table.

Logan quickly sidestepped to avoid a back slap from Dick. "Hey-ya Dick, joining us today?"

"If it's okay with you, Ronnie, and… Waldo?"

"Wallace." Wallace glared at Dick.

"Right, Wallace." Dick smiled guilelessly, offering Wallace a fist. Wallace stared at Dick's fist for a few seconds and then lightly bumped it with his own.

"Whatever." Veronica offered and turned her attention back to Luke. "Luke, take a seat."

Luke scanned the occupants of the table nervously. "Maybe we could talk in private?"

"No need. Logan and Wallace already know, and I have a hard time believing that Dick isn't at least somewhat aware of what you've gotten yourself into." Veronica glanced at Dick who nodded.

"Dude, Luke, it's not exactly a secret." Dick turned back to Logan, "Can I steal an egg roll?"

"Not if you want to keep your namesake, _Dick_." Veronica watched as Dick quickly snatched his hands away from the bag of take-out and held them up in surrender.

"Now Luke, has Zigman given you a deadline?" Veronica asked while accepting the bag of eggrolls from a smirking Logan.

"He told me I had until tomorrow to give him the steroids and that the money wasn't enough." Luke looked down at his hands and sighed. "I know you said you wouldn't help me if I was giving him drugs, but I don't know what to do." Luke looked completely defeated.

"I have a few ideas regarding that. For now, I need you to concentrate on rounding up the money in case we can't find the piñata. Can you handle that Luke?" Veronica asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Luke nodded and stood up to leave. "Thanks Veronica," he said as he shuffled away.

"So V, you have any leads on the car or piñata?" Wallace asked.

"I've got a guy…" She answered evasively, earning her glares from both Wallace and Logan. Veronica decided to enact the next part of her plan for Luke before either of them could ask more questions. "I'll be right back, boys."

She found Troy kneeling at his locker. "Time for a chat?" She asked, bending down into Troy's eye line.

"Well, you'd think that if hell froze over maybe it'd be on the news." Troy smirked at Veronica.

"I just wanna hear more about the steroids you bought last weekend. Remember? When your dad's car was stolen."

"You mean the weekend that you were supposed to be my date for homecoming? Sure I remember that." Troy tapped his index finger against his chin. "And you must mean the steroids that _Luke_ bought. Wow, you suck at this Nancy Drew stuff. You should get a new hobby."

"So, you knew he was doing it." Veronica pushed.

"I had no idea what Luke was up to until after the fact. He told me the next day." Troy's voice softened and he leaned closer to Veronica. "I'm the victim here; first my girl ditches me for some jackass, and then my car gets stolen." Troy reached out and grabbed Veronica's arm almost exactly where Duncan had earlier that morning, causing her to wince. "And now I'm going to be sent to some Catholic boarding school."

"Troy, let go of me." Veronica hissed through the pain as Troy tightened his hold on her arm.

"Hey, Veronica. This guy bothering you?" Logan called playfully from down the hall. As he approached them, Veronica watched Logan's expression morph into a deep scowl. Logan reached out and smacked Troy's hand away from Veronica and shoved him into the lockers. "No touching." Logan waggled his finger in Troy's face and moved Veronica behind him.

"Are we done here officers?" Troy asked snidely as he pushed away from the locker, rubbing his shoulder.

Logan flicked his hand at Troy, dismissing him, and turned to face Veronica, "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine," Veronica reached for Logan's arm and tugged it gently, "Let's go finish lunch."

Logan nodded and placed his hand at the small of Veronica's back to guide her through the doors and back out to the quad.

Veronica thought about her earlier encounter with Duncan and then her confrontation with Troy and a shudder surged through her body. She hoped Logan couldn't feel it. _What is the deal with people thinking it's okay to manhandle me? I need to practice drawing Mr. Sparky faster._

Veronica resumed her seat between Wallace and Logan and noticed that Dick had returned to his usual place at the 09er table. She shrugged at the change and started rummaging through the remaining containers of food. Spotting crispy shrimp she looked up at Logan, "Why would you order shrimp? What if you accidentally ate some?"

"I know you really like it. And I knew it was there so I was careful." He smiled shyly at her.

Veronica started to lean over to give him a side hug and then, remembering where she was and that his back was still tender, whispered in his ear instead. "Thank you. Not just for this, but earlier with Duncan and Troy, too." She shifted back to her seat and smiled.

Wallace looked back and forth between the two. "Is everything okay? You're both acting a little weird."

"It's been a pretty strange day, Papa Bear." Veronica said, earning a glare from Wallace.

"Hey!" Dick plopped back down at the table and continued in a hushed voice, "have you heard the rumors about Duncan?"

_I guess now is as good a time as any to fill Wallace in on this morning_.

Wallace leaned in conspiratorially, "Yeah man, I've been hearing some pretty strange stuff."

_The truth is actually weirder than any of the rumors they've heard. _Veronica looked to Logan, who shrugged questioningly at her. Veronica shook her head and let the boys have their little tête-à-tête while she and Logan continued to eat.

"So it turns out Duncan got messed up yesterday and went all Fight Club on Lilly's grave." Dick shared. Veronica saw Logan shiver a bit at the mention of Lilly, but no one else seemed to notice.

_Well, that explains why Duncan looked like he'd been a fight yesterday at lunch._ Veronica thought to herself.

"I heard something else…" Dick looked over at Logan and Veronica, "Sean said that he saw Duncan's SUV at your place this morning Ronnie. That true?"

_Just great. Douchebag Sean would pick this morning to be on my side of town. _Veronica nodded and looked to Logan. After a moment of silent communication, Logan shared a very abbreviated version of the morning's events. Veronica could tell from Wallace's narrow-eyed expression that he wasn't pleased to be hearing about this from Dick. The bell rang as Logan finished telling Wallace about Jake taking Duncan away.

Wallace fist bumped Logan, "Thanks for having her back man, she's pesky but at this rate we may need a third or fourth ally just to keep up with the threats."

Logan chuckled, "I may have a third I could offer up, but she won't like it." He smirked and nodded toward Dick as they all exited the quad.

"Don't even think about it." Veronica hip checked Logan into Wallace and took off for her locker.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you all enjoyed a little more Veronica this time around. Big thanks go to Bondopoulos for all the work she put into that first section from Veronica's perspective and the Flashback with Lilly. I had been really struggling getting it out and she busted her bum making it so much better than what I originally had.


End file.
